Run Devil Run
by GallifreyXFalling
Summary: A continuance of my series. Sequel to "Missing an Angel"&"Angel of the Silences" Excerpt:"The mighty Sam Winchester. Psychic warrior, demon slayer, Savior of the World. He survived Hell but cannot survive assembling a crib that was designed in China."
1. Chapter 1

Sera wasn't sure how long she had been there. There weren't any windows, the lights just got shut off some times so she could sleep. She hadn't actually seen anyone, just a hand shoving trays full of food through the slot in the door. It was good food, too, she had to give them that. Meals full of iron and folate and B vitamins, as well as a handful of prenatal vitamins and lots of juice and herbal tea. For the first few days she had refused to eat anything, but she got hungry, and she knew she had to for the baby she was carrying, so she started eating.

She also went over to the boxes and opened them, finding all sorts of designer maternity clothes. Classy stuff in green and black like she liked. She hated that whoever was doing this knew her so well and was treating her so decent. When she finally broke down and put on a green babydoll dress and a pair of black leggings, a voice came from the walls.

"Glad you're enjoying my gifts, Seraphiel."

She looked around. "Gifts? Gifts are given out of love. I'm your prisoner here."

"Do you not like them? I can have them bring you more."

"Not the point, whoever the Hell you are. Why are you doing this?"

"Do not play dumb, it does not become you. You know very well what this is about."

"So what, you're going to keep me here for the next six months? Feeding me vitamins and giving me pretty clothes so you can take my child when it's born? You must be the biggest idiot in the Universe."

"How do you mean?"

"You think that you can just kidnap the mother of Sam Winchester's child and get away with it?"

"Sam Winchester does not scare me."

"Then I was right, you are an idiot."

"Do not anger me, Seraphiel. I could make life very hard for you."

"Whatever you think you can do to me, it will be nothing compared to what will happen to you. Don't believe me? Ask Azazel, or Lucifer, or Michael, or any creature they have ever come across. Oh, that's right, you can't. Because they're either Dead or locked in the worst corner of Hell. You're going to try and convince me that you're smarter and more powerful than all of them? You think that you can fight off the Winchesters, and Castiel, and most likely the King of Hell? That's an awful lot of pride you got there."

"They will not find you, Seraphiel, I have made sure of it."

"Nothing is going to stop them. They will tear this world apart looking for me"

"It does not matter what they do, they will not find you."

"You just watch them." Seraphiel said, but the voice did not respond. She sat down on the bed, looking around, waiting for him to say something else. Suddenly the door flew open, and before she knew it she was surrounded and was being restrained. They tied her to the bed with blackberry vines and someone shoved a needle in her arm. She tried to look to where is was leading, and at the end of the tubing found an IV bag full of blood.

"What…" she forced out, and then saw the red liquid make its way down the tube and into her arm. When it hit her veins began to burn, and she screamed. It was demon's blood. They were feeding her child demon's blood.

Dean was just sitting there, on the edge of the couch trying to think of something he could do, then he felt a sting in his arm. He looked down at it and saw nothing, but then it started to burn all through him. He crumpled to the floor. Castiel and Sam ran in from the kitchen, Castiel drawing him up into his arms.

"Something's happening…to Sera." His hand clenched Cas's shirt. "It burns…"

Cas looked up at Sam, like he was saying he was sorry for what was happening to his brother and the mother of his child. Dean's screams were muffled in Castiel's chest.

"What could do that to an angel, Cas?" Sam asked.

"There's only one thing that they could be giving her that could hurt this much." He lifted his eyes. "They're pumping her full of Demon's Blood."

"Why?"

"They're trying to corrupt your daughter, make her stronger. It won't kill Seraphiel, but she's going to wish it could."

Dean relaxed for a moment, then tensed and yelled again as he got hit by a new wave of pain. "I think they're trying to increase the rate of her growth. They don't want to risk keeping her long enough for us to find her." Castiel said, trying to pull the attention away from Dean. "It means they're scared, or she provoked them."

"I'd say that's my girl, but since this is what it lead to I don't know whether I should be proud that she's pissing them off."

Castiel looked up at Sam, who looked at the angel and then his brother. He got up and walked out, sliding the doors shut and leaning against them, pretending not to hear his brother screaming, because he knew Dean wouldn't want him to see this, and honestly he couldn't stand watching his brother suffer like this again.

Dean looked up into the eyes of his guardian angel, who took his hand. "It's alright, I've got you," the angel said as he looked down into the hunter's deep green eyes full of pain. Dean took a breath, and then the burning feeling came on him again. He squeezed Castiel's hand so hard that if he had been human, it would have broken.

"We have to find her, Cas." Dean forced out.

"We will, Dean. And we'll make them pay."


	2. Chapter 2

Sam was upstairs in the room he shared with Sera, looking through the pictures she had loaded onto it just a few days before. He recognized the ones they had all taken before, but when he got to the ones that Dean had taken when he and Cas were alone, the tone changed. Aside from a few that were taken of some pretty girls and the inside of houses while on a job, most of them were of Castiel and his different facial expressions. They were spread out with photos of random items in their motel room, but the rest seemed pretty damn obsessive.

Then there were some others, taken really late at night or really early in the morning, Sam was guessing by Castiel. They were of strange places, foreign places. He never really knew what Castiel did at night while the rest of them were sleeping, but now he did. Why Castiel decided to take the camera with him, he could never guess, but the angel did, and decided to give them all a peek into his nighttime activities. Sam stopped and just stared at a photo of the Northern Lights. There were so many colors, so much light, the camera had trouble capturing them all.

When he finally clicked next, those photos of the most beautiful things in the world were followed by pictures of Dean. He was just lying on some nondescript motel bed, on his stomach, like he usually slept. Castiel had just snapped one picture of him after another, as if he wanted to capture Dean as close to peace as he got.

Dean knocked on the open door and Sam closed the display screen, even closing the laptop entirely. "Hey." He said. "Feeling better?"

"The burning stopped, so I guess, but I don't know how long this will last. Cas says that they might give her more later."

He rubbed his wrists and necked. "They have her restrained, I can feel it. It's like there are thorns stabbing into my skin, and I feel like I'm going to be sick."

"Does Cas have anything in his bag of tricks that can make you feel better?"

"He says no, unless he can find a way to remove my soul, since that's where the pain is actually coming from."

"I'm guessing you'd rather endure it then end up soulless."

"Damn straight."

"Any word from Crowley?"

"Not a whisper. Castiel can't even track him down, he's either gone off the grid or he's in hell."

"Well, that's nice." Sam said sarcastically. Suddenly there was a loud thumping sound from beneath them and then Cas's voice rose up. "Dean!"

Sam jumped up and they both ran out the door and down the stairs. They skidded into the living room and Crowley was standing in the kitchen, using one of their dish towels to clean blood off of his hands.

"What have you found?" Sam asked.

"They're holding her somewhere in Lawrence, that's where several demons have gone missing. One of them escaped, but she's a bloody mess." He tossed the towel into the sink and took a glass full of scotch from Castiel's hand. "Apparently they've been capturing demons and bleeding them to force feed her."

"Yeah, we figured that much out." Dean said. He was leaning in the doorway holding his sides like he was about the throw up. Cas walked over and put his hand on Dean's shoulder, and he looked up and gave a weak smile.

"Well, I say we work fast. Going by how many they've taken, they've already pumped enough blood into her to keep our boy Sam here high for a month."

"And they're about to give her more," Dean said, starting to double over. Castiel was the only thing keeping him upright. The angel took the hunter out of the room, flicking his hand to slide the doors shut.

Crowley looked at Sam. "So, now we know where she is, sort of. When do we head out to go narrow it down?"

Sam's brows furrowed. "We? You're coming with us?"

"Of course."

"But whoever is doing this could kill you."

"This is Seraphiel, Sam. Anyone else I would not give a damn what happens to them but her…I owe her."

"You know if I can't even trust your self-preserving attitude I think this might be the end of the world."

"Don't get your hopes up, sweetheart."

Sam had loaded up with weapons, strapping on all of the holsters and sheaths that Sera had given him. He didn't really know what they were going up against, so he took everything. He walked into the living room, where Dean was laid out on the couch and Cas was standing over him.

"He was screaming a lot, so I put him to sleep. He is in no condition to fight."

"Great. So it's just the three of us."

"A Hunter, an Angel and the King of Hell…not a bad team."

"Could be better."

Castiel pulled the angel blade from his coat. "It will have to do."

The trio appeared in the all-too-familiar cemetery outside of Lawrence. It was a better location to appear than say, Main Street, considering Sam was carrying a full arsenal.

"So, any idea as to where to start?"

"Give me a moment," Castiel said, and he vanished. He returned a few moments later. "There's a building 3 miles west of here that I cannot get near. The two of you can get close enough to disarm the warding magic, and then I'll join you."

Sam sighed and looked at Crowley. "Well, let's go."

Crowley touched his arm and they vanished, and Castiel stood there in the cemetery, waiting, remembering the last time they had been here. For all it's sorrow, it had been a glorious day, the day they averted the Apocalypse. Castiel had died that day, if only for a few moments, and had returned stronger and better than before, all of his abilities restored. He had merely touched Dean's forehead and he had healed him completely.

Suddenly he felt the magic break, and then appeared next to his friend Sam outside the broken down building. They all looked at each other then made their way in. "What is it with these people and these abandoned houses?" Sam asked.

Crowley found a door and opened it. "Stairs here."

Sam and Castiel walked over. At the bottom of the stairs there was another door with brambles wrapped around the doorknob and a devil's trap painted on it.

"Seriously, who are these people?" Sam said, walking down the stairs and taking out the demon knife. He used it to scratch off part of the Devil's trap and then cut the brambles off of the doorknob.

Sera's restraints were removed but she was in too much pain and too tired to fight. Her captors left the room and she swallowed hard and opened her eyes, but everything was red and blurry.

She sat up and forced herself out of the bed, going over to the sink and looking into the mirror set above it. There was blood dripping from her eyes, nose, ears and mouth. The blood they were pumping into her was poisoning her, killing her slowly, even as the child inside her grew strong. She lifted the skirt of her dress and saw her stomach, which would probably have split from the rapid growth if she had been human. She looked to be about six months along now, and she could feel the child constantly kicking her insides.

She lurched over to the toilet and retched mostly blood into it. She had to get out of here somehow, fast, or she was going to die.


	3. Chapter 3

Sam stood over the body that was slowly gushing blood onto the clean, white floor. The door had lead to a bunch of labyrinthine hallways, and they had come across a few people during this. All of them had been human, but it wasn't until this one that Sam had even noticed. He was lying there, bleeding, surely getting terribly stung by the salt round in his chest. Suddenly Sam realized that he didn't care. Human or not these people had taken Sera from him. He took the knife from his belt and drove it into the man's heart.

When he stood back up he turned and looked at Castiel. His friend seemed concerned at the darkness that was hardening the hunter's eyes. The look on the angel's face made the hunter turn and storm down the hallway. He didn't have time to discuss the ethics of the situation, he needed to find Sera.

Crowley had gone off in another direction and was most likely taking his sweet time trying to divine the specific location of where they were keeping her in the building. Sam snuck up behind another guard and slit his throat, watching him drop to the floor. "You could try and ask them something before you kill them, Sam." Castiel said.

"I'm too angry to think about stuff like that right now, Cas."

"Maybe you should slow down. We're not going to find her any faster by killing everyone we come across."

"Fine." Sam snapped. "I'll try to keep the next one alive long enough to ask for directions."

Sera washed the blood off of her face and neck. She looked around the room and tried to find anything she could use. When she found no way of breaking the seal in the objects she had she thought about the weapon she had within her. She didn't want to consider it, but it was possible to tap into her child's soul to get a power boost. The only problem was that her daughter would know the worst pain imaginable before even leaving her womb, and the thought of that just made her sad and sick with herself.

She looked at the door, which didn't have a knob on the inside. It's quite possible that she had enough demon's blood in her for the seal not to work anymore, so all she had to do was get the door open.

She put a hand on her stomach, and her hand palm out towards the door.

Sam jumped as he heard a loud explosion, and then ran off toward it. Within moments he was looking down the hallway where Sera had blasted the door open. She tumbled out, stepping over debris and a body or two. She looked down the hall at Sam's starstruck face. He walked towards her.

"Hey," He said, incredibly relieved.

"Hi."

"We uh…came here to save you."

"Nice timing." She grabbed her middle and doubled over, "You need to get out of here." She said, looking up at Sam.

"Yeah, we're leaving now, come on," He stepped forward and tried to take her arm.

"Not me, you."

Castiel appeared then, having ended whatever fight he was in and sensed Sera now that she was out of the angel trap. "Oh, good, Castiel." Sera said. She forced herself to stand up. "Get Sam out of here, now. He's not going to want to see this."

"See what?" Sam said.

"They gave me Demon Blood, Sam, lots of it, more than enough to corrupt a child, but my angelic nature is more powerful. The two are warring it out inside of me and it's not going to be pretty. So leave, now, I'll be fine. Whoever actually wanted me isn't actually here."

"I'm not leaving you."

Sera gritted her teeth in anger and closed her eyes. When she opened them they were completely black. Sam actually had to take a step back. Castiel took this opportunity to touch him, and Sam disappeared, reappearing in the living room at Bobby's house.

Sera blinked and her eyes were normal again. "Castiel." She said, pleadingly. "You know what has to be done."

He nodded. He started to recite an Enochian excorcism, and Seraphiel began to cough out black smoke. She ended up dropping to her knees, then to all fours, black smoke constantly flowing from her mouth. When she looked up at Castiel her eyes were dripping tears of blood and he stopped.

"No, Cas, you have to keep going. Get all of it out of me."

"It's hurting you."

"Would you rather this child be born with evil in it's heart?"

Castiel steeled himself and kept going, even though it pained him to see his friend suffer. Finally she stopped coughing and no more black smoke came out. She stood up. "Where's Crowley?"

"Most likely looking for the demons they were holding." He stepped forward and caught her up before she collapsed again. He picked her up.

"You're heavier than last time."

"Yeah, well, I'm the equivalent of seven months pregnant now. Just get me out of here, would you?"

He nodded and a second later they were back at the house. He set her on her feet and Sam walked over to help her if she needed it. As soon as she was safe, Castiel vanished again. Sera sat down in one of the kitchen chairs, holding her stomach.

"Well…that was fun."

Sam sat down across from her. "Really? That's what you're going to say?"

"Oh, right, almost forgot." She looked up. "How's Dean?"

"He's been in an epic assload of pain the last couple of days."

"I thought he might. I'll have to do something to make up for it later."

"How come you never told me that you gave him your blood?"

"Sam, I just progressed through four months of pregnancy in five days. I've been getting tortured and I'm still sick from the demon blood they gave me, and you want to do this now?"

"Not really, no. I would rather not do it at all."

"Good, then we won't." She lifted up the skirt of her dress and pulled the waistband of the leggings down to expose her stomach. She took one of his hands and put it where the baby was kicking. "She's coming a lot sooner than we thought. We're gonna have to get busy getting this place ready. Dean and Cas can't go back out on the road again, not any time soon, we need the protection." She put a hand to the necklace at her throat. "Better protection than I could provide."

Suddenly Castiel and Crowley appeared a few feet away from them. "I got all of the demons out, but I'm keeping them in the meat suits until they heal, to teach them not to get caught." He looked at Sera. "Good to see you alive."

"Likewise." She looked between them. "So did any of you actually figure out who took me or did you just find my location?"

"You don't know?" Crowley asked.

"Whoever it was talked to me but not in person. I couldn't get a read on them or a name. It was definitely someone male, or in a male vessel, at least. Someone high up. I know it wasn't an Archangel, they're all dead or imprisoned."

She looked up and noticed movement outside the window. "Hey, look, it's snowing."

Sam turned but Castiel and Crowley seemed uninterested. "I'll keep asking around, see if I can find anything out."

"Thanks, Crowley." Sera said, wit a great amount of tenderness. He nodded then vanished. Castiel looked at her.

"I do not trust him."

"Oh, that's rich."

She looked at Sam. "I need to eat."

"There's still a ton of leftovers. I'll heat you up a plate."

"Thanks."

She looked down at her stomach. She could act like she wasn't worried for their sake, but she suspected that just cleansing the demonic energy from her wouldn't be enough. Her child had been changed, infected. It was now angel, human, and demon, and she wondered if the person who orchestrated all this knew what they had really done.


	4. Chapter 4

Sera sat at the kitchen table with a stack of newspaper on one side and a stack of boxes on the other. The Winchesters didn't have many real holiday traditions, but she wanted to stick to the ones they had, like the plastic tree in the living room covered in pine-scented air fresheners and wrapping the gifts in newspaper and duct tape. Sera was bringing an artful touch to it, though. She couldn't help but wrap the gifts perfect and even and hide the tape to make it seem seamless.

She had gotten so used to guns going off outside that it didn't even faze her anymore. Dean was trying to teach Cas how to use the different kinds of guns by setting cans on top of the cars and in random places for him to aim at. Sam came in from the library flipping through an instruction pamphlet for putting a crib together, "This is insane." Sam said.

Sera smiled and leaned back. "The mighty Sam Winchester. Psychic warrior, demon slayer, Savior of the World. He survived Hell but cannot survive assembling a crib that was designed in China."

"Not funny," He flipped a page. "These instructions make absolutely no sense."

"You should have just paid the guy the fifteen bucks to come assemble it in the house."

"And let some random 20-year-old stranger into our house, with all of the weapons around and these symbols drawn everywhere? If he's not a demon he'll think we're insane. How's the present wrapping coming along?"

"Pretty good, only got about six more boxes to go." She picked one up and set it on a sheet of newspaper and beginning to wrap the paper around the shoe box.

There was a gunshot shortly followed by a _ping._ "Hey, sounds like he hit one." Sera said, smiling. "He's getting better."

"It's so weird seeing Castiel with firearms." Sam said, stepping over and looking out the window, seeing Cas aim at another can on top of a torn-up Chevy truck and miss. He chuckled then turned away from the window. "Alright, time to try this again. Hopefully I won't screw it up too badly this time."

He walked out of the room and she heard him go up the stairs. She shook her head. "Should have just paid the kid," she whispered.

"I heard that!" He yelled from the staircase.

Outside, Dean was getting fed up with Castiel wasting all those bullets. "Seriously Cas, you're an angel. You have like, super-vision. How are you such a bad shot?"

"I am sorry, Dean. I am more comfortable with my angel blade."

"Well it's going to be you and me on the road for a while so I'm going to need you to back me up, and angel blades are no good against ghosts."

Castiel sighed and looked at the .45. Dean saw the look on his angel friend's face. He was really trying. Dean walked over and took the gun from him, then aimed at one of the cans and shot it, sending it flying off the truck.

"You're just over thinking it, Castiel." He stepped over, placing the weapon in the angel's hand and wrapping his fingers around it. Dean stood behind him, putting his own hands on either side of Castiel's. He raised his arm and aimed the weapon at one of the other cans. "Take a deep breath." Dean said into the angel's ear. "Exhale slowly, keep your eyes on the target and-" Castiel squeezed the trigger and hit the can, sending it flying.

The hunter let go of the angel's hand and stepped away. "Now try it on your own." Castiel glanced over at him, then searched for another target. He aimed, took a breath and fired, hitting the target. He dropped his arm and sighed with a smile of absolute relief. He turned and looked at Dean, who looked rather proud of him. "Alright, hit a couple more and then we'll try another one."

He turned and stepped away and looked up at the kitchen window, where Sera was watching them. She smiled and did a finger-wave, but he looked away like he didn't see her there. She just shook her head and went back to what she had planned to do before she saw them, which was filling up the tea kettle.

She heard a _thunk_ and a loud curse from upstairs as she put the kettle on the stove, and gave a wry smile. She picked up the phone from the counter and dialed the number to the store, which she had written down on the pad stuck to the fridge, talking to the shop assistant while going back to the table to wrap the next gift.

While she was in the middle of the conversation when Crowley appeared. He was about to speak but she put a finger to her lips and he fell silent. While she talked he poured himself some scotch. "Yeah, tomorrow at two? Alright, I'll be here." She hung the phone up and then looked at the demon. "How's it going?" She asked, tucking in the corners of the newspaper to make a point and taping it down.

"I have a name." He said, and then turned to face her. "You aren't going to like it."

"I never thought I would." She said, pausing in her wrapping to look up at him. "Who is it?"

"Cherry."

She let go of the paper, letting it fall open again. She sat in stunned silence for several seconds, the whistling of the kettle breaking her from her daze. She got up and made herself a sup of raspberry leaf. While it steeped she turned and looked at Crowley. "You're telling me that Cheriour…my baby sister Cherry…she's the one who had them take me?"

"Yes. I…uh…found out she's working with someone but I don't know who yet, all I know is that she's the one that instigated it."

Sera couldn't believe this. Crowley stepped over and lifted her chin. "You shouldn't be so surprised at this, Sera, you know that."

"I thought that…that since it was me…"

"You should have known better."

"I should have…but I hoped. It's a human failing."

Tears started streaming down her face and she hugged Crowley, just because he was the closest thing to her. Dean and Castiel walked in through the back door then, probably coming in to get a new gun or an ammo refill, and they stopped when they saw them.

"Uh…" Dean said, causing Sera to look up. When he saw her crying he automatically blamed Crowley, but didn't want to jump to conclusions. "What's wrong?"

Crowley stepped away from her. "I found out who's trying to take her child from her."

"Who?" Cas and Dean asked simultaneously.

"It's Cherry." Sera said, with a great amount of sadness in her voice. She raised her eyes at Castiel. Dean looked between them. "Who's Cherry?" But no one answered him, Castiel just walked forward and took his sister in his arms. When they finally broke apart Sera wiped her eyes and looked at Dean. "I'll wait until later. I'll tell you and Sam both the story after dinner, okay? Just know that she's an angel. A very powerful angel"

Crowley finished off his scotch. "I'm going to get out of here before Sam sees me." He looked at Sera. "I'm sorry, I really am." Then he vanished.

Sera turned around and added some honey to her tea and stirred it, picking up the cup and turning back around to drink it. Cas and Dean were just standing there. "Seriously, guys, go back to what you were doing, I can't…I need to be alone."

Dean nodded. "Come on, Cas, we're moving on to Shotguns." He lead his friend from the room and in a few moments they were outside again. Sera finished off her tea and then went back to wrapping presents.

Dean loaded shells into the barrels. "So who's Cherry?"

"Sera wanted to be the one to tell you their story."

"Their story, sure, but who she is in general, like…as an angel. I mean seriously the name Cherry makes her sound more like a stripper."

"Her full name is Cheriour. She's an avenging angel."

"What like…destroying cities and stuff?"

"No, Cherry's job is more specific. She hunts down criminals, usually those who commit ultimate blasphemy but she's flexible. In the earlier days she hunted down the mothers of the Nephilim."

"They were criminals?"

"Under the old laws, yes, for the crime of causing the fall of an angel."

"But Sera said most of them didn't even know they were angels, and some of them were raped."

"You understand why our Father was so disappointed in us, now? Why he decided to leave? He tried so hard to teach us to do the right thing but when he stopped giving us orders…"

"Yeah, I get it, they went overboard." He snapped the barrels back into place. "Now, for shotguns your aim doesn't have to be quite so exact, but it's good to have a specific thing to aim at, otherwise you'll hit everything." He pointed it at an empty paint can and fired, a whole was blasted straight through it, He went and picked it up, and it was kind of smoking. "See? These things tear everything you shoot them at."

He handed it to Castiel. "So tell me more about Cherry."

"She and Seraphiel were very close. But then again Sera was close to all of us. I think she liked Cherry especially because they had a lot in common, you know, having to be strong for people. Cherry's job was to protect people from the wicked, Sera's is to protect God. The main difference was that Cherry's job was you know…on the offense." He tried to aim the weapon, but Dean stopped him. "No, Cas, tuck it into your shoulder, otherwise it'll blow you backwards." He raised the gun and positioned it properly.

"Cherry was one of Sera's favorites, but trying to take the Nephilim children that were meant for greatness and killing off the mothers was her job. We should have thought of it earlier, but I guess we didn't want to, since they were so close." He fired the weapon and blasted the paint can apart.

"Nice shot." Dean said.

"Thanks."

"So all that explains why Sera's crying so much. I mean if Sam was coming after me for something like that…"

"Exactly. It would break your heart, and that's just one lifetime. Imagine being betrayed like this after loving someone since the dawn of Creation."

Dean looked up at the window. "It's a good thing she's an angel, because if she was human this would kill her."

"Probably. Instead she just has to live with the pain, in fear that one of her closest sisters is going to hunt her down."

Dean put his hand over his heart and rubbed his chest. He could feel it, though he didn't want to admit it, and he probably hadn't noticed because that feeling was so familiar to him, that feeling of familial betrayal, that he didn't notice when it came back. He looked at Castiel as he fired off the gun again, smiling at the look of accomplishment on his face. He wondered if he could send some positive feelings back to Sera, instead of just getting all of hers.

Inside the house, Sera tilted her head. For some reason, in that moment, she felt a little better. She looked toward the window and heard a gun go off again, then heard Dean shout, and she cracked a smile through her steadily flowing silent tears.


	5. Chapter 5

Sam finished stacking the gifts beneath the tree. It was getting dark outside now, and Dean and Castiel were coming in. Dean was putting the guns away. Castiel rubbed his shoulder. "This actually hurts." He pulled the sleeve of the shirt he was wearing up. Dean looked at his shoulder. "Wow, you're actually bruised." Dean punched the black mark and Cas flinched, "Ow."

"If you were human it would probably be broken." He said, pulling Cas's sleeve down. "Told you to watch out for the recoil, although with this thing it's more of a kick."

"I did everything you told me to do."

"Yeah, but you probably didn't move with it, you just stayed still like you're used to doing."

"You didn't say anything about that."

"Didn't really think about it. It's usually a natural movement." He punched him in the arm again.

"Why do you keep doing that?"

"It's not often I get to see you sort of human. Excuse me for exploiting it when I can." Sera poked her head out into the hallway. "Dean, wash up, dinner's almost ready."

"Yes, Mommy," he said sarcastically, and she smiled. "Cas are you going to sit with us?"

He looked to his sister, then at Dean. "Yes." He said flatly. She nodded then slinked back into the kitchen. Dean made sure everything was back in place then went to the bathroom to wash the gunpowder residue off of his hands.

Dean was the last person to the table. They passed around dishes of chicken parmesan and alfredo pasta, Sera and Sam also had spinach salad. Cas just sat there with an empty place setting. Sera still gave him a plate and everything just in case he felt like eating to fit in.

Dean started cutting up his chicken. "So…Sera." She looked up as she took a bite. "You said you were going to tell us about Cherry."

"Right," She said, looking down and away. Sam looked up, "Wait…what did I miss? Who's Cherry?"

Sera looked at Sam. "Haven't really had the chance to say…Crowley found out who was trying to steal our little girl. It was an angel."

"Named Cherry?" Sam asked. "Sounds more like a stripper."

"Dude, that's her sister you're talking about." Dean said, all stern and serious like he was offended.

"Dean you said exactly the same thing." Castiel said, and Dean gave him a disapproving look.

"Cherry is short for Cherurio. It was my pet name for her and sort of…caught on. Anyway she and I were really close back in the day. She was a hunter, tracked down the mothers of Nephilim children and executed them so she could either take the ones that were meant to be heroes or destroyed them." She looked up and put up her hands. "I know, believe me, but please just save the lecturing for the end of this."

"Anyway, a long time ago, after the Nephilim that weren't hunters were wiped off the map, and God realized that he needed to step back, see how the angels and the humans did on their own, I went to Earth too. I traveled around a lot, switching off vessels and the like and helping out where I could…mostly performing and stuff. Then I was in Scotland, mid 17th century, working in a tavern. I met Fergus there…you know, Crowley? For all his faults he was always really nice to me and the girls. Anyway, Cherry showed up, and her mission was to punish him in her usual fashion."

"Which was what, exactly?" Dean asked.

"Giving him everything he wanted, of course. That's how she punished them, by granting their every wish."

"How is that a punishment?" Sam asked.

"Dean can tell you that. He knows how it turns out when you get everything you want."

Sam looked at his brother. "When you get everything for nothing, nothing ever means anything. When I was taken down by that one Djinn, I had family and everything but it all felt empty…and then I found out that all of those people we saved had died and it was…I had to get out of it."

"That's how she works, too, only instead of a fantasy it really happens. You get whatever you want. Money, power, women, only she did one better. Instead of him just damning himself, she tricked him into making a deal with a crossroads demon. But, I liked the guy, and when she told me about it I tried to help him, tried to force the demon to dissolve the contract, but nothing worked, so I told him some trade secrets, and when Cherry found out I had found a way to cheat, to actually make him thrive in hell instead of really receiving any punishment, she got angry."

She took a bite of chicken. "You see, for Cherry there was nothing else in the world but her mission, punishing the wicked and making sure there was no possible way they could receive last minute redemption and get into Heaven. It was all she had, especially since God wasn't in Heaven anymore. Even though they didn't really know it at the time, by now they had begun to feel the emptiness. They threw themselves into their work. She hated me then, because I had something else. I had a life."

She shook her head. "Anyway, since this is the first Nephilim born since the time of David, she's coming after it. She doesn't care who she has to kill to get it."

There was a long silence, which was filled only by utensils scraping against plates and Dean's loud smacking. Finally Dean spoke up, "This is really good."

"Aww, thanks. I made it from scratch, noodles and all."

"Really? You made the noodles?" She nodded. "You are fantastic. You know if Sam hadn't gotten to you first…"

"You'd marry me. Yeah, I know." She twirled some pasta around her fork. "There's pie, too."

Dean dropped his fork and it clattered against the plate. He looked at his brother. "I don't care anymore, man, I'm stealing her."

"You could try," said Sam.

"Boys, stop it, you're making me blush."

Later, they were sitting in the living room watching TV. Sera was on the end, Cas was in the middle and Dean was on the other end, and Sam was in the kitchen doing dishes. Sera had her hand resting on her belly. "We seriously need to think about what your name is going to be, baby. I really thought we'd have more time."

Dean looked over at her. "Have you and Sam talked about it?"

"A bit. I mean, he has a whole list but I can't decide, and she's not telling me. I was thinking like…Cassie or Deanna or Samantha or something."

"I don't think you should name her after any of us. Besides, isn't it bad luck to name a child after someone living?"

"Yeah, it is, I forgot about that. You have any ideas?"

"Well, you're musical, right? Why not give her a name that reflects that?"

"What like name her Melody or Harmony or Aria or something?"

"Why not?"

Sam spoke up from the doorway into the kitchen. "Why not give her something a little more classical? Like name her after one of the Muses."

"Dude, I swear, if you weren't having a baby with one of the most beautiful women in the world I would swear that you were gay right now." Dean stated, Sam just rolled his eyes and stepped farther into the room. Sera was thinking.

"Well, all nine of the original muses are dead now, so that works. The only two I know of that aren't too outrageous are Thalia and Calliope."

"I like Thalia, Calliope sounds a little…" Dean struggled for a word.

"Pretentious?" Castiel supplied.

"Yeah, that."

"Oh, believe me, she was. She was the muse of epic poetry. Honestly she was all tragedy, I hated being around her. Thalia on the other hand had a wonderful sense of humor." Sera looked at Dean. "The two of you would have gotten along famously."

"Wait, you actually knew the Muses?" Sam asked.

"Of course I did, Sam. Well, I knew the original ones. They all died out ages ago, but there's a ton around still. I think round about a couple of hundred."

"How come we've never run into them?"

"Well, for one, they're invisible to human eyes. Me, Cas and maybe now Dean could see them, but you wouldn't be able to. Besides, they aren't monsters. They're helpful…mostly. They hang around people with natural talent and funnel ideas into their heads. There wouldn't be any need to hunt them."

"Are there any other types of things like this we should know about? I for one would have liked to know that all of the creatures in the world aren't evil or hungry for human flesh…" Dean said.

"Oh, yeah, actually, there are loads; you guys just haven't been around them much because you're Hunters."

"We're straying from the subject, here." Dean interjected. "So, Thalia?"

Sera looked down at her stomach. "What do you think, Thalia?"

There was a moment of silence. "Well, she's not kicking me, so I'm guessing she doesn't hate it." Suddenly, she cringed a bit.

"What?" Dean asked, seeing her face.

"Feels like she's stretching."

Sam knelt down by her. "Thalia Winchester, you're going to be the best hunter in the history of the world." He put his hand on Sera's stomach and felt his daughter move, cracking a huge smile. Sera leaned forward and they kissed. "You bet she is," said Sera. "She'll put your entire family to shame."

"She wouldn't be a Winchester if she wasn't better than her predecessors." Castiel said flatly, looking at Dean.

"Damn straight." Dean said, taking a drink of his beer. "Now…where's that pie?"


	6. Chapter 6

Dean sat at the table, the pie in front of him. Sera just handed him the knife so he could slice it. He looked at it and thought he didn't even want to cut into it. Instead of the usual slices in the pie crust for steam, she had cut little hearts out of it, and some of the red gooey filling had bubbled up, staining the edges. The crust was perfectly golden and flaky, he didn't want to destroy it, but then he realized it was made to be eaten. He slid the knife into the center and served himself up a slice.

Sera sat in a chair at the head of the table and watched as he picked up his fork and cut the point off with its side, then stabbed into it and took a bite. She smiled as she got the look she was waiting for…that expression of penultimate satisfaction that Dean only got when he was eating something that made his taste buds explode or when he was lying on one of those vibrating motel beds. She looked up at Cas, who was standing in the doorway, staring at Dean as he ate.

"You want some?" She said, pointing at the pie.

"I don't need to eat…"

"Oh, Come on, Cas. I mean, you might have a hard time convincing Dean to share, but I definitely think you should at least try it."

Dean looked up at her from his plate, then at Castiel. He took a dessert plate from the stack next to the pie and cut another piece. He slid it over towards Cas a bit, then pulled a chair up beside him, and kept eating. Castiel just looked at it for a moment, then at how Dean was enjoying it. He took a step forward, then another, then sat down beside his hunter friend.

Sera watched as he picked up a fork, cut off a bit, and then took a bite. He started chewing, then paused. This look came across his face; she couldn't put a label to it if she tried. Suddenly he swallowed, hard, and then looked down at it. Dean saw that he wasn't moving and glanced over. Cas looked at his friend and then back down at the dessert, taking another bite. Dean smiled as much as he could with a mouthful of fruit and pastry.

"What did you add to this one? There's a sharper flavor underneath the strawberries and rhubarb…" Dean asked, examining it. "I'm trying to figure out what it is but it's stumping me."

"It's cheese…it was on sale at the store and I read the label and it said it was great for desserts so I lined the bottom crust with it. You like it?"

"I love it. Seriously, you should do this professionally."

Sera chuckled. "I already have a job, Dean. Being an angel and keeping your ass in line is pretty much a full time job."

"You were a music teacher in your last vessel."

"Yeah, but that was when I was lying low and stuff, now half of our world knows what I look like and that I'm working with you, having a regular job would just put more people in danger. I'll just have to stick to conning the system and hustling all those games and contests." She started humming, looking down at her bulging belly. Suddenly there was a loud belch from the end of the table and they both looked at Castiel. His plate was empty, and it looked as if he had licked it clean.

"Can I have some more?" He asked.

Sera chuckled as Dean cut him another slice.

It was late, after midnight, actually. Dean had been trying to get to sleep on the couch for hours. Even though Sera had set up a room for him, it just didn't feel right, so he kept coming downstairs to the library to sleep. Tonight, however, he was just lying there with his eyes wide open. Castiel had disappeared, so he didn't have anyone to play cards with. He sat up and looked at the little plastic tree in the corner, lit up with bright green lights and covered in pine-scented air fresheners. He looked at the newspaper-wrapped gifts under the tree and wondered what they were, and which ones were for him.

He got up and stepped over, crouching down next to the tree and picking up boxes, looking at the names drawn on in Sharpie. He found one that had his name on it and shook it, hearing a slight metallic rattling. Suddenly the light flipped on and he snapped around. Sera was standing in the doorway with a bemused smile.

"I put change in the bottom of all the boxes, you're not going to be able to tell what's in them."

"Damn," he said, setting the box back down. He stood up and turned around. "Couldn't sleep?"

"Yeah."

"Are you not sleeping because I can't or am I not sleeping because you can't?"

"Not sure. Does it matter?"

"Suppose not."

She took a step into the room. "You know, this has just sucked. I skipped over the funnest part of pregnancy."

"There's a fun part?"

"Oh, yeah, usually during the second trimester women produce all of these great hormones. They make you all glowy and happy and energetic and sometimes unbelievably horny, which is great because that's usually the time that your boobs start getting huge but your stomach is still small enough by comparison to look good, but I skipped over that part. I went from being sick and miserable all of the time to being the size of a damn planet and having all these weird aches and pains and crying all of the time."

"I'm going to pretend I only heard half of that." Dean said, slightly uncomfortable with Sera talking about how she missed the opportunity to have a lot of sex with his brother.

"You want to watch some trashy late night TV? I could make popcorn."

"You know I do already, don't you?"

"Of course," she said, smiling, and then walked through the room into the kitchen.

They were sitting watching The Bishop's Wife on TCM, laughing at all of the angel inaccuracy and munching on popcorn with their feet propped up on the table in front of them. Suddenly Castiel appeared, holding a wooden box in his hands, he quickly hid it behind his back. "Oh…um…hi." He said awkwardly.

"Hey Cas, whatcha got there?" Dean asked.

"It's…nothing. I don't know what you're talking about." He said, looking down and away and speaking in a rushed manner.

"Castiel, we all know that you have something behind your back." She looked at his embarrassed face. "Is it a present for someone?"

He lifted his eyes then looked away again, then glanced at Dean briefly, and then at the TV. "Oh, I see." She put her hand over Dean's eyes. He tried to pull it down but failed, then tried to slink down. "Just find somewhere to hide it and I'll wrap it tomorrow, okay?"

He nodded then disappeared. She removed her hand from Dean's eyes. "That's so sweet. Did you get him something?"

Dean shoved a handful of popcorn in his mouth and made some indiscernible noises. "You didn't, did you?" He looked away.

"Dean," she said in a whiney voice, smacking his arm. "Why wouldn't you get him something?"

"I couldn't think of anything. I mean what do you get an angel, really?"

"I don't know, you could have gotten him his own gun, or something. Thigh holsters are pretty sexy."

"Can we just leave words like 'sexy' out of this particular conversation?"

"Shut up, Dean, this is me. Now, what could you give him that can be totally and completely his, but still reminds him of you every time he sees it?"

"I don't know, Sera. If I could figure that out on my own we wouldn't be having this conversation, but I think we can rule out a thigh holster. Giving him a weapon sounds pretty reasonable."

"That certainly narrows it down." Sera said, munching some popcorn. Castiel reappeared and she smiled at him. "Hello again. Want to come sit with us? We're watching an angel movie."

He shrugged and then headed for the couch. Dean picked up the popcorn bowl and scooted over, and Castiel sat down next to him. Dean leaned back and propped his feet up, and since it was the way everyone else was sitting, Cas pulled off his shoes and did it too.


	7. Chapter 7

It was Christmas Eve morning, and Sera woke up freezing cold. She turned over and snuggled closer to Sam, but he jerked awake when her cold toes touched his leg. "Morning," he said sleepily, rubbing his eyes. "Morning," She said. She heard the front door opening and closing. "Well, sounds like Dean's awake." She wondered if he was coming in or going out. "He's excited about something." Sera sat up. She pulled the end of her braid around and pulled the band off and started unraveling it. "I think he finally got what he was after."

"What was he after?"

"The perfect present for Castiel. He's been really stressed about it since he found out Cas got him something."

"Oh," Sam said, sitting up alongside her. He looked out their bedroom window. "Did it snow again last night?"

"Yep." She felt a sudden rush of warm air coming from the vents. "Hey, thanks Cas." She looked at Sam, "He supercharged the furnace for us."

Suddenly Castiel appeared at the end of the bed. Sam jumped and covered himself with the comforter. "Geez, Cas, haven't you ever heard of knocking?"

"Yes, I have." He said flatly, and Sera snorted. He looked at her. "Is that better?"

"Much, thanks, it was freezing in here. Was Dean leaving or coming in a minute ago?"

"Coming in. He's been out in the garage all night, making a lot of noise. I asked if he needed any help but he uh…"

"Did he snap at you?"

Castiel nodded. "Don't take it personally."

She ran her fingers through her now unbound hair and fluffed it, then got out of bed. She looked at Sam, who was still covering himself with the blanket and looking all awkward. "You want anything in particular for breakfast?" She asked, catching his attention. He threw the covers off and jumped up, grabbing his gray thermal off the floor and pulling it on, "No, it's fine, I'll cook."

Sera laughed, unbuttoning her nightgown. "Seriously?"

"Yeah, why are you laughing? I can make pancakes." He walked around Castiel and crossed the room to her, planting a kiss on her cheek, then walking out of the room, glancing back at Castiel before he shut the door. Sera turned her back to him then pulled her nightgown off and start rifling through the closet. "So, what'd you get him?"

Castiel was looking towards the window, as if micro-analyzing the crystallization of the webs of ice on the glass. "Agathon's Talisman."

Sera glanced over her shoulder. "That must have taken you a while." She pulled a shirt over her head.

"It seemed a very long time. I finally found it in a Greek museum."

"Are you going to tell him everything about it?"

"Of course. Otherwise he will be terribly confused by it. He does not know his own family history."

"I definitely think it's time he found out." She stepped into a pair of her maternity jeans and pulled them on. "He needs to know what he's going to have to deal with."

She pulled one of Sam's plaid shirts off of a hanger and pulled it on over her t-shirt, leaving it unbuttoned. "Could you get me some socks?" She said at Cas, and he went over to the dresser. He opened the top drawer and pulled out a pair. Sera turned around and put her hands up to catch them, and he tossed them to her.

"Do you know what he got me?" Castiel asked.

"Yes."

"Are you going to tell me?"

"No."

She smiled as she sat down and negotiated her socks onto her feet. "What did you get Sam?"

"A knife, with one silver edge and one of iron, forged in holy fire."

"Good to know you thought of long-term usage. Both that and the Talisman can be passed down to Thalia."

"I also got a mobile to go over her crib."

"Really?"

"Yes, it's has warding charms hanging from it."

She looked down at her stomach. "Tally, you are going to be one twisted little child."

"Should I have gotten something else?"

"No, no, she's a special girl. Fluffy cute animals would never work for her. Besides, at least we know no one's going to be able to steal her or bleed into her mouth."

"That is a comfort."

She stood up. "You should probably go downstairs, I'm going to be a bit. Have to brush my teeth and all that."

Cas nodded then vanished. She smiled and shook her head, and then walked into the bathroom and shut the door.

Dean walked into the kitchen to find his brother making pancakes. "Wow, look at you. She's got you totally whipped."

"No complaints." Sam said, flipping a pancake.

"I probably wouldn't complain about being her bitch either, dude."

Sam pointed the spatula at him. "Careful now, that's my..." His brows furrowed. "I don't know what to call her, but she's mine."

Dean put his hands up in mock surrender. "Just complimenting your good taste, bro. You're not always so lucky."

"Yeah. How was it she put it? They usually have 'fangs or claws or demon blood.' Figures I'd fall in love with an angel. No normalcy for this family, no." He said the last part scoffingly as he flipped a pancake.

Suddenly Cas appeared next to Dean, making him jump. Sam didn't even turn around. "Hey Cas."

"Seraphiel will be downstairs momentarily." He looked at Dean. "I am told it is customary to wish you a Merry Christmas."

"Yeah, kind of. Merry Christmas, Cas."

"Merry Christmas Dean." He looked at Sam. "And you, Sam." Then he looked down at the floor and just sort of stood there. Dean cleared his throat and the Angel looked up. "You wanna go watch some crappy Christmas movie until breakfast is ready?"

Castiel shook his head and looked away again. He looked out the window at the snow. Dean got an idea. "I'm gonna go get my coat on and we're going outside."

"Why?"

"Because It's Christmas Eve and there's snow on the ground, and since Sera keeps trying her best to make us be normal we're going to be."

Sam looked over his shoulder. "You're not?"

"Oh yeah, I am."

"Just go easy on him, will you?"

"Go easy on him? He's probably going to kill me."

"Why would I kill you?" Cas asked, genuinely concerned.

Dean smiled, "You'll see," then turned and went to get his jacket and track down a pair of gloves.

They were walking around outside in the snow, Castiel was admiring how perfectly it had covered everything in pure white, made everything brighter. Suddenly he heard a crunching behind him and he turned, only to be nailed in the face with a ball of compressed ice chips. He wiped all of the melting slush with his sleeve then looked at Dean. "Why did you do that?"

"Because it's fun." Dean said flatly, almost mocking Castiel's usual tone as he scooped up some more snow and packed it into a ball. Castiel looked beside him at all of the snow covering the hood of a car. He scooped some up and imitated Dean's motions, and caught Dean on the side of the head as he was turning. Dean cringed as it hit him, because some of the snow and grit from the car got stuck in his eye. "Dammit," he said, doubling over and putting his hand over his eye.

Cas stepped over, putting his hand out like he was going to comfort Dean, but then Dean stood and slammed the handful of snow into the angel's face, laughing. He turned and ran as Castiel shook the snow away.


	8. Chapter 8

That night Sam started a fire in the hearth. It had been a long time since they had used it for anything other than spell work. Sera handed each of them a box.

"What are these?" Dean asked, looking skeptically at it.

"It's your Christmas PJs, silly. It's kind of traditional to open one gift on Christmas Eve, and it's just smart for it to be something you can actually use."

Castiel investigated the box and then looked up at Seraphiel. "I do not sleep, these are not required."

"Cas, seriously just open it and put them on."

There were rustling and tearing noises as the boys opened their presents, Sam picking the crumpled newspaper off of the floor and tossing it into the fire as Dean opened his box. He pulled the tissue paper back and picked up a black pajama leg, rubbing it between his fingers. "Are these…"

"Silk, yeah, but don't get too excited, it's a blend. You aren't worth that kind of money." She smiled, and then glanced over at Castiel, who was looking rather confused at the contents of his box. He carefully picked up a strap that was attached to a lot of black lace and sheer green fabric. Sam rushed over and snatched the box away. "Uhh, sorry Cas these must have gotten mislabeled, they aren't for you." He covered the lingerie with tissue paper and quickly got the top back on it. Sera was laughing uncontrollably. He walked over and handed the box to her. "Merry Christmas, Sera."

"Merry Christmas, Sam." She said, and then he turned and started looking through the presents to find the pajama box that had been labeled for Sera, since apparently the tags had gotten switched. Sera just glanced up at Dean with a big grin on her face. Dean looked really uncomfortable than glanced away, only to have his eyes land on Cas. Sera snorted, catching Sam's attention as he handed Cas his gift.

"What's so funny?"

"Just your brother."

"Yeah, I know, he's hilarious, but what are you laughing at?"

She beckoned him with her finger and stepped over, leaning down as she got up on her toes to whisper in his ear. Suddenly Sam started laughing too.

"Okay, now I want to know what's so funny." Dean said as they pulled away from each other and Sera moved to sit down on the floor while Sam went to tend the fire. Sera adjusted herself, nestling between Castiel and Dean's legs.

"I too would like to know what is so amusing." Castiel said, while investigating the pajamas Sera gave him. They wer black, with blue pinstripes that complemented his eyes.

"Nah, I don't think you do," Sam said from the fire place. Sera shook her head and laughed, opening her box and looking at the lingerie Sam got her. "Definitely not," She said, running her hands over it. She couldn't wait until she wasn't pregnant any more so she could wear it.

"Geez, sis, is this ever going to wear off?"

"Hell if I know, not like an angel feeds a human her blood all that often." She looked up at him with a satisfied smile. "I love it when you call me sis."

"Why?" Castiel asked, with a little bit of attitude, like he was jealous or mad. Sera went back to checking out her present. "Because, Cas, it makes me feel accepted, and loved, and a little but more human. You know, the way you feel every time someone uses the pet name Dean branded you with." Sam was suddenly next to her, on all fours leaning in for a kiss, which she obliged him with. She was used to a wild moose appearing suddenly without her noticing. "You really didn't have to get me these, Sam."

He made a mock worried face, "Is that girl code for I shouldn't have gotten them because they make you feel objectified or is that really you trying to be polite?"

"When have you ever known me to use girl code?"

"Never."

"Then I think you have your answer. They're really pretty, but I don't think they're going to last long once I get my body back from this invading mutant in my stomach. You tend to be pretty rough on my clothes."

"I'll try to be careful," He said, leaning in and kissing her again. Sera pushed him off and started laughing. "You're making Dean sick, Sammy."

"So?" the hunter said, kissing his angel again. Dean got up and walked out of the room, turning back and looking at Cas, angling his head to indicate he should follow, and leave them alone. Instead Cas simply vanished, and then Dean heard the creak of the upstairs floorboards. He just shook his head and walked out of the room, going to the room Sera had designated as his. Cas was in there, his trench coat and suit jacket thrown onto the bed, he had unbuttoned his sleeves, untucked his shirt, and was currently pulling off his tie. Dean considered just walking out, but for some reason he didn't. He walked forward and dropped the pajama box on his bed.

"I still do not understand why she wants me to put these on."

"She wants all of us to be normal, Cas. She really doesn't care whether it makes sense or not."

Cas shrugged and then started unbuttoning his shirt. Dean swallowed hard, trying to avert his eyes. "Besides, PJs are killer comfy. Actually, I think is the first set I've owned since I was a kid…closest I usually come is like…sweat pants or whatever." He didn't even know what he was talking about any more. Castiel took his shirt off. Dean found it odd that he was acting like it was absolutely nothing, but then realized that to him, it probably was. It probably wouldn't be so bad if Cas wasn't doing that thing with his face that he did when he was thinking or didn't understand something.

Dean had very rarely seen Cas without a shirt. The first time had been when he opened it up to cut a sigil into his flesh to get rid of the angels guarding Adam, and then when he came back, and that time Sera had been doctoring him up and then he reached into his soul. So yeah, three times since he's known him. Four, counting this one, he guessed. Where the hell were his thoughts going?

He started taking his own pajamas out of his box while Castiel took off his belt and unzipped his pants. He kept himself occupied with the silk pajama pants and turned away while Cas put his on. It was awkward, he didn't know what to do, and he couldn't bring himself to leave.

Sam sat on the couch, his back against the arm facing the fire, one leg on the floor and the other laid against the back of it, Sera laying her back against his chest as she sat between his legs. They both had their hands on her stomach.

"How young is too young to start training her?"

"Don't ask me, the way her life is going to be I think she should sleep in her crib with the demon knife under her pillow. I guess the responsible thing to do would be at least wait until she's old enough to put her fingers around it."

"So what, like, five?"

"Something like that."

Sam chuckled, "Are we bothering trying to save for college?"

"Are you kidding? With your brains she'd get a full ride easy if she applied anywhere. We can forge her school records."

"Wait, she's not going to school?"

"Do you want her to blow up the building and kill everyone when someone steals her juice?"

"Is that a possibility."

"Anything's a possibility, Sam. You don't know what she's going to turn out like. She might not even look human." She ended the sentence like she was going to say something else, but stopped. Sam angled his head to look at her face. He could see her eyebrows furrowed and her lips pursed in confusion. She tilted her head.

"What is it?" He asked. She didn't say anything, just glanced up at the ceiling, or, more accurately, to the floor above them.

Castiel was in his pajamas now, and when Dean glanced over he had to admit they looked good on him. Did Sera have his measurements memorized or something? Dean looked at his own, laying in that open box on the bed before him. He took a deep breath and shed his layers, finally peeling off his fitted black t-shirt.

Cas looked at his arm and tilted his head. Dean paused. "What?"

"You still have the scar." He said, looking at the slightly paler, upraised portion of Dean's upper arm, in the shape of a hand print. He stepped forward and placed his own hand over it. It was a perfect match. Dean looked down at Castiel's hand on his bare skin, covering the fading scar he obtained when he was pulled from Hell. His eyes moved down his arm and finally to Castiel's face. The angel was looking at the place they were touching like it was a mere curiosity. Dean realized that his own lips were parted, as he was breathing through his mouth.

Castiel eventually moved his hand from the mark, but Dean couldn't help but notice he did it by sliding down his arm, his fingers lingering. When Cas looked up at him again, Dean cleared his throat and looked away, reaching past him to pick up the pajama top from the bed and then slipping it on.

He really wasn't sure what these feelings were that he was having, but Sera, being objective, could definitely put a name to them. He may say he thought of Cas as family, like another brother, but his thoughts in that moment were anything but brotherly. She really wished he could just get past the whole "gender" thing, she was kind of getting tired of the tension.


	9. Chapter 9

Castiel tilted his head at the machine. He had seen the Winchesters, Bobby and Sera work similar ones several times before but he had never tried. He didn't drink coffee, or anything, so he'd never had to, but today it seemed like the thing to do. He opened the top and took out the built-in filter, dumping the old coffee grounds into the side of the sink that had the disposal in it. He rinsed the last bits out of it and then put it back in its place, removing the glass pot and rinsing it out as well, then filling it up with water. Every movement was slow, purposeful, because he was honestly scared he was going to break something or set it on fire.

Somehow, though, he figured it out, and finally flipped the switch and the bottom, jumping at the noise it started to make. He turned around and Dean was in the doorway, still in his pajamas, leaning against the jamb with his arms crossed. He lifted his eyes and had a rather bemused look on his face.

"How long have you been standing there?" Castiel asked.

"Long enough." He looked past the angel to the dripping coffee machine, "What made you decide to do this?"

"It's Christmas." Castiel said, as if that explained everything. Dean knew he wouldn't be able to get any other answers out of him by the look on his face. It was still pretty early, so much the sky outside was only the steely blue-gray that preceded the sun. Dean glanced back over his shoulder then back at Cas. "Want to go ahead and exchange gifts? I really don't want to sit through Sera's snarky comments."

Castiel shrugged, then Dean gave that smile he only ever gave Castiel, and turned on his heel to walk into the library, picking up the newspaper-wrapped package he had wrapped himself very carefully just the day before. Castiel walked in and searched around, finally finding his gift for Dean and picking it up. They looked at each other then exchanged the packages. Dean just ripped the paper off but Castiel was careful, meticulous, like he wanted to save the newspaper wrapping.

Dean opened the wooden box, and there were two necklaces inside, one he recognized. It was one he had thrown away long ago but had always regretted losing, the amulet that Sam gave him all that time ago that he had thrown away in a fit. The other was something on a leather cord, some sort of small disc made of clay with Enochian letters painted on it. When he picked up up and felt how light it was he realized it was hollow, he shook it. There was the whispering sound of some sort of powder inside.

He looked up at Cas, who was popping open the wooden case to reveal a Colt .45 with ivory grips that matched the one he had been carrying for years, only engraved with angel wings, and multiple types of bullets he had made to fit them, full of rock salt, black salt and borax, as well as regular bullets, and he had marked them all. Castiel looked up.

"It's for, you know, when we're hunting together." Dean said, then lifted the talisman up. "Can I ask….?"

"It belonged to one of your ancestors. Actually, the origin of your bloodline. His name was Agathon, he was a Nephilim, born in Ancient Greece, and a very prolific hunter. That talisman is of his creation, and as far as I know it is the only one like it. Inside is the collected ash from the wings of his father."

"So…he…" Dean looked at it, realizing that his ancestor had committed patricide, but considering the probable circumstances he didn't blame him. "Wow."

"As long as you wear it, nothing can pierce your skin." Castiel said, setting the case that had his new gun on the arm of the couch so he could step forward and take it from him, putting the talisman around his neck. He was behind him, tying the leather cord in a knot, and Dean closed his eyes and took in a sharp breath as Castiel's fingers grazed the back of his neck.

"There," Castiel said, pulling his hands away. Dean looked down at it as he turned around to face him. Castiel was really close, the tips of their toes were touching, Dean realized, as well as the fact they were both bare foot. He glanced up and caught Castiel's impossibly blue eyes. Seriously, the guy's irises were the deepest shade he had ever seen on anyone. It seemed unnatural. If any woman he had ever met had had eyes like that…Dean bit his bottom lip at the thought.

Sera came downstairs and started to head into the library, but stopped when she saw Dean and Castiel standing less than six inches away from each other looking into each other's eyes like…well, like they always do. She had the fleeting hope that something was going to happen and she didn't want to spoil it so she began to back away quietly. Of course she was given away by a creaky floorboard. Dean looked over at the noise and Sera did one of her stupid grins. "Morning boys," she said, walking straight into the room and hugging Castiel. "Merry Christmas, she said quietly, before backing away some and planting a kiss on his cheek before turning and hugging Dean.

"Merry Christmas," Dean said as she pulled away. She took a step back from them. "I'm not interrupting anything am I?"

"What?" Dean said, his voice going up an octave, causing Sera to snort. He cleared his throat, "I mean, no, of course not. What could you possibly be interrupting? We already exchanged our gifts…" He realized he was rambling, so he just stopped talking and turned around to pick up two boxes. "One's for you, the other's for my niece."

"Thanks," Sera said with complete sincerity. "You really didn't have to get me anything." She sat down and started unwrapping the top one as Sam came down, the only one of them who had decided to get completely dressed before coming down stairs. He looked at Dean and Cas, sensing a really weird vibe. He noticed that Dean was putting on the amulet he had believed to be lost forever, but didn't say anything about it. Despite everything he still got all defensive and snarky when Sam brought up anything the slightest bit emotional.

"Morning," He said, ruffling his hair, Sera looked up and smiled before going back to unwrapping her gift. She opened the shoe box and pulled out a bundle wrapped in tissue paper. She looked quizzically at Dean, and then started to peel the layers back. "Jeez, Dean, you wrap presents like you dress."

"Sorry?"

"Sloppily, with a lot of unnecessary layers."

Castiel snorted, causing Dean to look at him like he'd lost his mind. "What? She's right." Sam was over by the tree, looking for his gifts to everyone. Sera finished getting the tissue paper off and smiled at the crystal angel. "Aww, this is so cute," she said, laying it carefully back in the box and picking up the next one that was meant for Thalia. She opened it as Sam handed his to Dean and Cas.

Inside the box were three CDs he had burned, a black baby blanket with the letter W and some musical notes monogrammed in green and gold on one of the corners, and a couple of framed pictures of Sam and Dean as kids, and one of John and Mary. She was so busy getting girly over it that she missed Sam's reaction to getting the knife, and the gifts that Dean and Sam exchanged, which as always were just simple things you could buy at a gas station, because really they didn't need anything else.

Sam had bought a bunch of stuff for Thalia and that made up most of the presents that were left. Besides the lingerie he didn't get anything for Sera, but then again she hadn't asked for anything and there was nothing she really wanted. She had his love, that was more than enough for her. Their daughter needed material things more than she did.

Castiel's presents made up a basic Hunter's kit. Things like holy water and different kinds of knives and wooden stakes. Things he would need while he was with them. Sera was loving the look on his face. He didn't know how to feel about this new level of acceptance.

Sam had taken all of the newspapers and cardboard and was tossing it into the fire place and Castiel was packing all of the things he had gotten into his very own duffle bag. Sera set the crystal angel on the desk and then went upstairs, coming back down with the now empty camera, snapping pictures of every one and every thing.

Suddenly Crowley appeared, a gift in his hands wrapped in bright green paper. It was obviously for Seraphiel. She smiled at him and snapped a picture. "Good Morning, Crowley," She said, knowing better than to say Merry Christmas.

"Hello Sera," He said, that coy little smile on his face. She walked towards him. "Is that for me?"

"Who else would I get a present for?" He said, handing the gift over. She took it and put the strap of the camera around her neck so she could free her hands and open it. Inside were two jewelry cases, she opened them both up, they were matching charm bracelets, with the same beginning charms of a heart carved out of peridot and a musical note. It was obvious that one was for her and the other for Thalia. She smiled at Crowley, then shut the boxes and put them back in the package, handing it off to Sam to hold while she stepped forward and hugged him. When she stepped back Dean thought Crowley's face had never looked more human, but he soon got his bearing back then vanished.

"Well that wasn't awkward at all," Dean said, Sam opened the boxes to look at the bracelets and then set them back.

Castiel looked at Sera, "Can I put my regular clothes back on now?" He said, he was obviously perturbed at wearing the pajamas. He'd been pulling at them all morning. Sera laughed, "Sure."

Castiel vanished, but the pjs didn't. He vanished from out of them, and they collapsed to the floor. Dean glanced up at the ceiling and realized Castiel was up there, in the bedroom that was kind of his, completely and totally naked. When he moved his eyes back down and tried to look at anything else, he caught Sera's gaze, and saw that she was grinning like an idiot. He turned around and walked into the kitchen, making himself some coffee. He paused halfway through filling up his mug to look at the pot of coffee, remembering Castiel had brewed it. He cursed to himself then put the pot back in its place, turning around to take a drink.

Sera had walked in to the kitchen. He could see Sam in the other room putting the gifts away. She started making herself some tea, standing next to him to fill up the kettle at the sink. "You know, if you want to keep things secret, you really should not make everything you want to say obvious on your face. Trust the expert secret keeper."

"I have no idea what you're talking about." Dean said, attempting to be nonchalant after he gulped down his coffee.

"Uh huh, right. Because I'm being completely ridiculous. I can't sense your emotions or look inside your head any time I please. I didn't pick up that incredibly loud thought you had a second ago that was practically screaming at me so loud we wouldn't need a blood bond for me to hear it. I'm sure I'm just imagining all of it.

She stepped over to the stove, turning on one of the burners and setting the kettle on it.

Dean rolled his eyes. He opened his mouth like he was about to say something, something really important, but then Castiel appeared, and Sera knew she wouldn't have another chance to get him to admit it again, at least not today.

"Feel better, Cas?" He asked before taking another sip.

"I am much more comfortable in these clothes, yes."

"Yeah seeing you in anything but the trench coat is always weird."

"Technically it's an overcoat."

"Yeah, whatever Cas."


	10. Chapter 10

Surprisingly, the next week was incredibly uneventful. Other than Dean helping Castiel get used to the new weapons and showing him how to conceal them properly, nothing really changed. The morning before New Year's Eve Seraphiel came downstairs to see Dean drinking his morning coffee at the table, a rather pensive look on his face.

"What is it now?" She said, rolling her eyes as she sat down across from him.

"What do you mean?"

"I mean your forehead currently has more wrinkles than a raisin. Something has to be on your mind."

Dean just looked down into his coffee.

"If you don't tell me I'm going to have to start guessing."

Continued silence. Sera made her "Oh, I'm gonna get you good" face.

"Alright. Twenty questions without verbal answers. This is going to be fun. Is it something to do with Cas?"

She analyzed his reaction down to the slightest muscle twitch and whatever emotion she could get off of him.

"Ok, so partially, but not really. This is a sort of umbrella issue, right? Some sort of problem you have with everything?"

He lifted his eyes. Suddenly a voice came from behind her.

"He's upset and distrusting of the fact that he is happy." It was Cas's voice. As he had the very moment they physically met, he understood Dean perfectly. She looked Dean in the eyes and saw that this was true. She reached out and put her hand over his. "Don't worry. After Thalia's born and you guys go back out on the road it will be suffering and bloodshed and angst again. You'll be back in your comfort zone. And you have plenty of time to prepare yourself for when I leave you all. But keep in mind that Castiel won't. He'll be with you until the end. It's not like he can go back to Heaven."

Dean angled his eyes up to look over her at Castiel, who nodded, then moved them back toward Sera's face. She took her hand away. "What do you want for breakfast?"

"Sera, you're like, a day away from going into labor, you should be on bed rest. I'll make breakfast," Dean said, sipping his coffee. Sera got wide-eyed. "Really?"

"You know I made breakfast all of the time when I was…" He sort of swallowed the end of his sentence. He had promised himself and made Sam promise never to speak of his time with Lisa again, and he wasn't going to be the one to break it. Sera understood this. "Yeah, I get it. Go ahead, and while you're at it put the kettle on." She kept watching Dean until she heard the chair at the end of the table scrape the floor. She looked over to see Cas sitting down.

He glanced down at her stomach. "It will not be long. Twenty-four hours at the most. I can feel it."

"I can too. I think everyone can. I mean, this is pretty huge. First one in a really long time. I think even Dean can feel it, even if he doesn't know what it is."

"Can you guys please not talk about me like I'm not here?"

"If I was talking about you like you weren't here, this would be an entirely different conversation."

She heard the utter silence of him pausing in the middle of whatever it was he had been doing. He even stopped breathing for that moment, before returning to his task. Sera just smiled and Cas put on that adorably confused expression he seemed to have on constantly these days. With all of the jokes Sera made combined with Dean's reactions he didn't understand most of the conversations where they were involved.

"So, Dean, still having trouble sleeping in that bedroom?"

"Not as much."

"Good. You need your rest for everything that's coming."

Dean had learned not to ask questions when she made statements like that. One of the phones was ringing. Cas got up to go get it. "Which one is it?" Sera asked loudly.

"FBI."

"You remember what to say?"

Instead of answering, she heard the slight click of him picking up the phone. He started to recite the lines he had learned, inserting the names given. Sera and Dean smiled at each other at the incredibly flat way he said it. It was very convincing. He sounded like a soulless government type, they were kind of proud. When he walked back in and sat back down, Dean was the one to ask. "Who was it for?"

"Garth. He must not be very convincing, I believe we get calls for him more than any of the others."

"Have you met him? I'm surprised he's not dead, he's such an awkward mess."

"The one time I worked with him he got knocked out in the middle of a fight. Completely useless." Dean said, throwing some slices of bacon into the skillet he had been heating up.

Sam wandered in, planting a kiss on Sera's cheek as he walked past her toward the coffee pot. "Morning, Sammy," She said cheerfully.

Sam glanced over at Dean at the stove as he filled his mug. "Since when do you cook?"

"Why does no one think I know how to do things?" Dean said defensively.

It was later in the day, around noon, when Sera felt a slight twinge. She put her hand on her stomach. Castiel noticed as he was walking by, carrying a bowl full of popcorn for Dean. He stopped in his tracks and set the bowl on the table. Dean stopped a few feet away, seeing that the angel was suddenly alarmed. Sera looked up at them both and then, suddenly, it started. She tried not to make any noise but it was hard. Dean suddenly felt like he was having really bad stomach cramps.

Sam didn't need anyone to tell him, he just rushed into the room, like he could sense it. He moved to take one of her arms and help her up, while Castiel took the other. Dean needed to sit sown in the swivel chair from the pain. Sera shrugged away from Sam and leaned on Cas. "Call Crowley…tell him it's time, he'll know what to do."

Sam's brows furrowed. "Crowley?" The rest of his question was interrupted by Sera and Dean both screaming. When she could breathe again she lifted her eyes to Cas to confirm he understood her orders. He nodded and she gave a weak smile, switching to lean on Sam so Cas could go. He simply vanished.

She looked at Sam. "Our little girl's coming, Sammy." She took a breath. "I'm good, still in the early stages. Go tend to your brother, I'll get upstairs."

"You sure?" He asked, and she nodded and pushed him away, then vanished, he could hear her footsteps on the floor above. He went over to Dean, who was doubled over, and grabbed his shoulders and pulled him upright to look at him. "You gonna live, man?"

"I seriously do not know."

Sam breathed easier when Castiel appeared in the kitchen then walked into the library, but frowned when he saw he was alone. "Where's Crowley?" He asked, and then flinched as the house was filled with screams again.

"He's on his way. He had to track someone down." Castiel said flatly, as if there was nothing at all important going on. He went over to Dean and put his hand on his forehead, "Would you like me to force you into deep sleep?" He asked. Dean shook his head. "No, I…I can take it…"

"That is not what I asked. I know what you can and cannot take, I was asking if you wanted it to stop."

Dean just looked at him, and Sam had to look away from them, uncomfortable with the tension. Suddenly Crowley appeared in the kitchen, a leather bag in one hand while the other held tight onto a head full of dark hair. The face of it's owner was hidden until Crowley jerked her up and Sam saw a familiar face. "Meg?" He said, disbelieving. "What…why?" Was all he could force out while looking at Crowley. He let her go, and she looked around. "You didn't have to be so rough with me, Crowley, I agreed to come."

"You could have just used it as an excuse to get out of the Chamber. I had to make sure you wouldn't run off."

"Excuse me, can someone please tell me why she's here?" Sam asked, looking between Crowley and Castiel while pointing at Meg.

"Because, she's the only demon besides me that owes Seraphiel a favor."

"But how is she going to help?"

Meg held her hand out to Crowley, who handed her the leather bag. "Surprising that as many times as we've run into each other, you guys never asked about who I used to be. It seems out of character." She said, stepping forward into the library and winking at Castiel before turning to Sam. "I was a witch when I was alive. The traditional kind, not the hardcore chicks you guys are used to. Most witches in the Colonies were trained midwives and healers. That knowledge combined with the torturing skill I learned in hell…well let's just say I could work miracles that could put pretty much every modern Doctor to shame, and clever Sera, well I guess she knew the day would come when she would need those kinds of skills. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have a miracle baby to deliver."

"Fine, but I'll be watching you," Sam said sternly, and followed her upstairs.

"How…how does a midwife end up becoming a demon?" Dean breathed out, like listening to a story would give him something to focus on to lessen the pain.

Crowley rolled his eyes, "You'd have to ask her that, sunshine." He looked at Castiel. "Can't you shut your boyfriend up? He's only going to get worse."

"I'm not his…" Dean groaned, then just gave up. He looked at Castiel's left hand, and noticed something he hadn't before. He was still wearing the silver ring Sera had given him to match Dean's when they were fake married. They still matched. Somehow that seemed significant. Dean wondered if he had kept it on purpose or had simply forgotten to take it off.

Upstairs, Meg untied a leather surgical kit and unrolled it on their dresser. Sam sat next to Sera and had her hand in his to squeeze during the contractions, although he would probably regret it when one actually happened. She would probably crush it.

"So how does a midwife end up becoming a demon?"

Meg sighed and she began looking from Sera to her tools, as if strategizing what she would need to do should something bad happen. "It's not all that complicated. I was pretty, and smart, and the preacher man didn't like it too much when he tried to accost me and I kneed him in the groin, so he started a witch hunt, and I was the first to be arrested."

She took a scalpel from it's place and obviously held it like one who knew how to use it properly. "Azazel came to me in my cell, offered to make all of my problems go away and give me ten extra years of freedom if I just gave up one tiny little insignificant thing. I didn't agree the first time, I knew about demons and the tricks they could play, and had been tempted by them before, but after the few days that followed…all of the torture and interrogation…he came back, and offered it to me again. I gave it up that time." She looked at Sera, who gave her a weak smile, then at Sam, "Don't know why he came back after I said no. It's not like I was anything special."

"Don't do that, Meg, you're very special." Sera said breathily. Meg set the scalpel back down in its slot then walked over to the bed and put her hand on Sera's stomach.

"Before I got here, were you walking?"

"Of course."

"We've still got a way to go. You should get up and move some more if you want this to speed up." She looked at Sam. "Help her up."


	11. Chapter 11

Dean was trying to keep himself together, really, but he was slowly and surely losing his grip. He always knew the simple fact that childbirth was the most painful thing a human being could experience but honestly he thought more than once that he was going to die from this. He was in the kitchen, making himself some more coffee while Crowley was slowly drinking down his special bottle of scotch, when Castiel's voice caught his attention.

"Dean?" He said, rather quietly, actually. Dean turned around, Castiel took the coffee mug from him and then touched his fingers to Dean's forehead. He promptly collapsed, but Cas held him up with his free hand, setting the coffee on the counter then dragging him into the library and throwing him down on the couch. He came back and started pouring the coffee back into the pot so it would stay warm and not go to waste.

"He's not going to be happy with you for that."

"I don't think he's ever happy with me, but if worse comes to worse Sera will convince him it was the right thing to do."

There was silence, broken a moment later by a scream. Castiel looked up the floor above them. He wished there was something he could do to help her, but he didn't think there was. He looked at Crowley with obvious contempt that he could not bring himself to verbally express, because he was only here to help, and really the dealings they had in the past were entirely on Castiel. He made the decision to accept Crowley's deal all on his own, and couldn't blame the demon for tempting him. Really, at their core, Crowley's actions were generally for the Greater Good, even if it was the Greater Good of Evil. He was willing to not bring up their issues, in light of the fact they were both there because of Sera.

"I'm going to go…check on…them." Castiel forced out, then left the kitchen.

Sera looked up when she heard him coming, and sure enough a moment later he appeared in the doorway and leaned against it. She had to smile, because she knew he was picking up more and more habits from Dean.

"Hey Cas," She said. She was lying down again now. Meg said that she was far too dilated to walk around now. She squeezed her eyes shut and tried her best not to scream, but then failed. She opened her eyes and looked at Sam. "You need to leave."

"What?"

"I don't know how this is going to go, and as amazing as you are…you're just a man, Sam. You could die," She took a breath then screamed again. When she could think clearly she looked at Sam. "Don't make me make you."

"Sera I'm not leaving you."

"Alright then, you asked for it." She flicked her hand and threw him across the room, then looked at Cas. "Get him out."

Cas nodded, then walked over and grabbed the back of Sam's shirt, dragging him out of the room as he struggled against the angel's grip. Cas shut the door behind him and locked it. Sam banged on it for a minute, and then it sounded like he tried to kick it down but then there was silence.

After about an hour of pacing, watching his brother wince in silent sleep on the couch and chugging down coffee, pretty much the whole house filled with that pure white angelic light. Sam was worried, because he'd only seen that when an angel died or took a new vessel. When it cleared and he could see, he ran upstairs, and just when he was about to try and knock the door down again, it opened. Meg was holding his daughter. The look on his face was defensive and damn near murderous. "Relax. I just cleaned her up. Sera held her for a minute but then she kind of passed out."

Meg looked over her shoulder at Cas, who was covered in blood. "Our boy Cas here was a big help." She looked back at Sam. "It's your turn now, Daddy." She said, and began handing her off to him. Sam held his daughter in his arms, and honestly thought he had never seen anything more beautiful. She already had some hair, a few tiny blond curls, and when she opened her eyes he could tell they'd be hazel, like his, because even though they were mostly blue there were already flecks of green and brown. He smiled and let out a nervous laugh.

"Welcome to the world, Thalia Winchester."

"Pretty name." Meg said, and she tilted her head, looking at the child. She, like pretty much any demon, was tempted to just take it, but he could see in her eyes that she wouldn't. Something bigger than the war between Heaven and Hell was holding her back.

"That favor that you owe…or rather owed, Sera, what was it from?" Sam asked. His curiosity could not be contained, as he had known Meg for many years and had never known anything that could get in the way of what she needed to do.

"While I was imprisoned, I was raped. More than once, by more than just one of the guards or interrogators. Then I made the deal, and I didn't know I was pregnant. I ran, obviously, when I figured it out. Demon deal or not there was no way I could escape judgment and punishment for being an unwed mother, not in those days. I stopped in the woods one night and she was just…there. I thought she was another demon or something. She tried to play it off like she was just another traveler but not a lot of women travelled unaccompanied in those days. I could tell she was different. She made me an offer, and I took it on the condition that one day she'd call upon me for a favor."

Sam looked down at his daughter then back at Meg. "Thank you."

"Oh, don't. I already feel weird just being here and not killing anyone."

"Still, you could have taken her and disappeared as soon as she was in your arms. You didn't. Now I owe you."

Meg gave that sinister smile. "A Winchester owes me a favor. I'll be sure to use it wisely." Castiel stepped out of the room, brushing up against her some because she wouldn't move out of the way. "She's resting now. I uh…did my best to clean up some of the mess." His eyes sort of casually fell on Meg, and Sam noticed that she was giving him flirty eyes. Cas looked terribly confused. This was the first time they had seen each other since that time they kissed, which Sam still wished he could burn out of his brain. That day was just too weird.

Sam looked at Cas and cleared his throat, catching the angel's attention. "You want to hold your niece, Cas?"

Castiel looked at the child and nodded, and Sam handed her over. Cas smiled down at the newborn, and Sam could swear she was smiling back. He looked up at Sam. "You sit with Sera. I will take care of the child. I have to go wake Dean up anyway, might as well introduce him to her while I am at it."

"Thanks," Sam said, letting out a breath. "Just uh…don't let Crowley hold her, okay?"

"I will do my best." Sam and Cas shared their distrust of Crowley. Despite everything he had done to help them.

Meg sighed, "Well, my work here is nearly done. I'll just check on Sera and make sure she's alright and then I'll go…I don't know, slaughter some puppies or something. Need to do something to get all of this good will off of me."

She walked back into the room. Sam and Cas watched her. Sam looked at the angel. "Everything you need is in the nursery if she needs like, changing or feeding or anything, alright? And I'll be right in here with Sera…"

"This is not the first child I have guarded, Sam."

He didn't know what to think of that statement, but in the end just let it go. "Just go watch her, we will be fine." Castiel said flatly, and then turned and started walking away. Sam walked into the bedroom and sat in a chair next to the bed, taking Sera's hand as he watched Meg examine her.

Castiel held the infant with one arm, reaching down with his other hand to touch Dean's forehead. The hunter jerked awake, taking a raspy breath. He looked up at Castiel. "That was a dirty trick you pulled."

"I could not let you suffer, Dean."

There was silence as Dean forced himself up, trying to think about how to respond to that, he blinked and realized Cas was holding a bundle. He stood up, "Is that…?"

"It is Thalia, yes. Our niece."

"Our?"

"She is the child of your brother and my sister…" Cas said, confused as to why Dean didn't understand what he had meant.

"Oh, right." The hunter looked at his niece, all pink and perfect and yawning. He could see she was going to have his mouth. "Can I hold her?" He asked, and Cas began to hand her over. Dean cradled the little girl in his arms. He was officially an uncle. This little girl would probably be the closest he would come to having a flesh-and-blood kid. He still lived with the sneaking suspicion that Ben was his but that was not an option any more. He had never really talked about it, but Dean had always wanted to be a Dad. Holding Thalia now, it was really all he could think about.

Crowley was standing in the doorway. "I don't suppose I'm going to get a turn?"

Cas and Dean both gave him the "No chance in Hell," look and he shrugged. "Thought not. If I were you I wouldn't let me near her either." He downed what was in his glass and then turned and set it on the table. He smiled to himself. It was his quiet scheming face, one that they would have recognized. It was a good thing that they couldn't see it.


	12. Chapter 12

It didn't take more than a week for Sera to get back to her pre-pregnancy self. Pretty much the only difference was that now her boobs were bigger because she was breastfeeding. She was laying Thalia down for a nap when Dean appeared in the doorway, a question on his mind. She knew he was there, but she was going to make him wait. She turned and faced him, putting her finger over her lips and stepping out of the room, closing the door behind her.

She smiled at him. "The answer is yes, we're fine. You can go back on the road if that's what you want."

"It's not what I want, but it IS our job."

"Sam's going to want to stick around for a little while longer. I don't think I'd be able to tear him away from Thalia until I can convince him I can protect her alone. It'll just be you and Cas. That's not going to be a problem is it?"

Dean rubbed his neck and awkwardly looked away. "Dean? It's not, is it?"

He shook his head. "Good. Are you guys taking the BMW or the Impala? I think it's safe for you to drive around in it now, and I kept it covered and away from the other cars."

"The Impala, definitely."

"Thought so. Go start looking for jobs and packing up, then."

Dean gave a weak smile and then turned and walked away. He didn't have to say that he would rather stay. He had kind of gotten used to being there, being a family, it felt right, especially since they were in Bobby's house. Even if they didn't have that weird bond Sera could see it in his face. She went to her bedroom, where Sam was sitting on the bed lacing up a pair of boots.

"What's up?" He said, seeing the look on her face.

"Dean and Cas will be leaving soon. Either tomorrow morning or the day after, depending on how long it takes Dean to find a job."

"Oh, alright." He finished knotting and then sat up.

"I'm gonna do the laundry and then run into town, get some more empty shells and salt and stuff, maybe talk to Jodi. Wait, she hasn't met me yet, has she? Well, now's a good a time as any. Maybe we'll be able to get her to babysit." She was talking pretty fast, like she was nervous.

"Are you okay?" Sam asked, standing up and putting his hands on her shoulders. She looked up at him. "Just having a mini-freakout. I'm fine, really. I think Dean's having some anxiety." She took a deep breath. "Yep, it's definitely Dean." She closed her eyes, then took another breath. "He's better now."

"What changed?"

Dean gave a weak smile as Cas handed him the coffee he had made him. He was sitting at the laptop, searching the internet for any strange occurrences. Their fingers lingered over each other as Dean took the mug and put it to his lips.

"Find anything?" Cas asked, putting his hands in the pockets of his trench coat.

"Not yet. Seriously, how hard is it to find freaky accidents and missing people?"

"Are you complaining there aren't enough crimes?"

"Or that there's just not enough reliable journalism."

Cas pulled out the chair at the end of the table and sat down. "Is there anything I need to do?"

"At the moment, nothing I know of, unless you want to go pack up the Impala. Otherwise you can just sit there and look pretty." He said reflexively in his usual sarcastic tone before he realized what words had actually come out of his mouth. He tried to eliminate the awkwardness by drinking the coffee.

"Why do you humans like coffee so much?" Castiel asked, tilting his head at the mug Dean had his hand clasped around.

"The caffeine raises awareness, wakes you up, improves your memory…" He looked at the way was looking curiously at it, doing that weird squinty thing with his eyes. "You wanna try some?" He asked, and Cas nodded. He got up like he was going to make himself some, but Dean stopped him. "Don't bother getting another mug dirty. You might not even like it. Here, just drink some of mine."

He slid the mug over to Cas, who sank back into his chair and took the mug in both of his hands. He picked it up and put it to his lips, taking a long, slow drink before setting it back down. Dean's eyebrows went up in inquiry, "So…do you like it?"

"It is…not terrible."

Dean snorted, then took the mug back, slipping his fingers in and grasping the handle. "Well if you want more, the pot's right over there." He said, gesturing towards the coffee maker. He lifted the mug and took a drink, his lips touching where Cas's had been moments before. It was still wet.

"Hey, I think I found something," He forced out after swallowing a mouthful of hot coffee. He clicked a link. "Three or four kids have gone missing from this town in Oklahoma, snatched right out of their beds. Could be worth checking out."

"Agreed," Castiel said, glancing between the coffee mug and the pot, as if debating whether to get more. "So, we leave in the morning?"

Dean nodded as he took another drink. "I'll get directions and then start packing up the car."

"I will assist you."

"You don't have to…"

"I have nothing else to do, Dean."

He sometimes forgot how bored his angel must be just sitting there, doing nothing. When they had first started spending time together he would sit or stand and just stare into nothingness for hours on end, but the more time he spent around humans the more he must pick up the habits of constant activity.

Wait a second…_his_ angel? Where had that come from? Cas wasn't his, he didn't have him, he didn't want him, either. What the hell was he thinking about, exactly? Dean carried on this internal argument for another thirty seconds before he realized Cas was staring at him, studying his obviously angry, confused face. Dean cleared his throat and relaxed, then took another drink. He wished he had spiked it.

Cas and Dean were in the bedroom with the door wide open. Dean's duffle bag was open on the bed, and he was going around the room finding the things he really needed. Cas was looking through his closet, taking out random articles of clothing and laying them in a pile on the bed for Dean to sort through.

"We should take some of the ones we got you, too. We might have to go undercover or something and a suit and trench coat won't work for everything."

Sera appeared in the doorway with another duffle bag, a black one with blue piping on it. "I found the one I was looking for." She tossed it to Cas and he caught it. "Figured you'd need it, since you have your own weapons and stuff now."

"Apparently I will also be requiring clothing."

"Yeah, probably." Sera said, she looked at Dean. "You good on Cash? I could go jack another ATM if you need it."

"No, actually, I think we're good for a while. It feels weird carrying all of this cash around. I kind of miss using credit cards."

"I know, sweetie, but those can be tracked."

"I know. At least as long as I have an angel at my side we can stay at motels instead of broken down abandoned houses. Cas can just take out all of the cameras."

"Just remember if you need me, call me, but don't pray. Someone might overhear you. I don't think the angels know Cas is alive again and we don't want them to."

Cas opened the duffle bag to stuff something in it and took out a bundle with a lot of straps. "What's this?"

"Just a bunch of different holsters, so you can hide weapons under your clothes, or just carry them. There's ones that og over your shoulders, around your waist AND, because I've found I particularly like them, a set of thigh holsters."

Dean gave her a dirty look and she smiled, Cas didn't notice. He shoved the holster back into the bag and started packing clothes into it. "I stocked up on empty shells, rock salt, black salt and borax powder and packed some of them, I've still got a lot to do though. You want me to pack a cooler too? That'd make you good for food, at least for a couple of days."

"Sure, I mean, if you want to."

Sera giggled, "You're just hoping I make some more of those deep-fried meat pies like I did around Christmas."

"Maybe I am. They were delicious. It's meat AND pie, what's not to love about that?"

"I can't think of anything." She smacked his arm and then walked out of the room.

Dean slammed the trunk of the Impala shut, running his hands along the edge. He had missed his baby. He took a second to traced the Devil's trap on the corner with his finger. He went over to the driver's side and looked over the top of the car at Castiel.

"You good to go?" He asked, and the angel nodded. Suddenly he heard a voice from a ways behind him. Sera was coming out of the house, carrying Thalia. Sam wasn't far behind. "You thought you could just walk out and not say bye, asshat?"

"You know I hate chick flick moments."

"Well too damn bad," She said, smiling, before leaning forward and hugging him loosely with one arm. When she pulled away she moved the blanket away from Thalia's face. "I think she wants to say bye to her Uncle too."

"She doesn't want to say anything. She's asleep because she kept all of us up all night crying."

"That's what babies do, Dean."

"Yeah, I know, glad I never had any." He said roughly, but his eyes told the truth. He leaned down and kissed the forehead of his niece, who made a noise and if her arms had been free, she probably would have smacked him. Dean laughed then looked at his brother, who was smacking Cas on the back, saying his goodbyes. Sam looked over, and they stepped toward each other.

"Try not to get yourself killed, okay?"

"No promises, bro."

"Well if Cas calls me and tells me you're dead, when you come back I'm kicking your ass."

"Same. Don't worry about me, I've got an angel on my shoulder. You just keep an eye on that daughter of yours. If she's got any genes in common with me she'll be breaking hearts before she can walk."

"Ha ha, very funny."

"Bitch." Dean said, punching his brother's arm.

"Jerk." Sam said, punching back. After laughing, they hugged. There really was no telling when they would see each other again. They quickly pulled away and then Dean went back to the driver's side door, opening it and getting in. After nodding at Sera, Cas followed suit. They had said their goodbyes the night before. Sam and Sera stepped away and watched them drive off through the gate, which Sera closed behind them with a wave of her hand.

"Think they'll be okay?" Sam asked.

"I know they will." She looked at him. "This isn't like the other times you guys have split up for a while, Sam. You're just taking some paternity leave."

"I know but…he gets so…"

"I know, but trust me, Cas will be enough to keep him grounded until you can go back on the road again."

"I don't even think I should."

"But you have to, Sam, it's your calling. It's in your blood, and Thalia's too. You can't stop it or fight it. Don't worry, soon as I have things down I'll be able to protect Thalia on my own, and then you can go back to work."

"Sera I don't want to leave you."

"And I don't want you to leave, but some things are bigger than that." She turned and started walking back toward the house, and he followed her. "You want to go back to sleep?" He asked, changing the subject.

"Oh, you know it, soon as I put her down."


	13. Chapter 13

Dean swung the machete and the monster's head went rolling. Castiel was going around to each of the chained-up victims, touching his fingers to their foreheads to heal them, but also make sure they stayed unconscious. Dean didn't want to have to explain what happened to them.

The girl they had met, the latest victim who kind of already knew what was going on, jerked awake. Her name was Elli, cute little thing with big brown eyes and curly sandy brown hair. She had a tattoo of a dragon around her arm, and Dean had thought when he saw it that if she had ever met one she wouldn't like them so much. He walked over with his lock pick and got her out of the shackles.

"You okay?" He asked, catching her as she nearly collapsed and then pulling her over and setting her down in a chair, pushing a lock of hair out of her face. She swallowed. "Yeah, I'm fine."

She looked at the body and the detached head a few feet away from it. "So that's?"

"Yes." Castiel said, and she looked up at the angel.

"Oh." She nodded, "Right. Can't believe I was actually gonna go home with that guy."

Dean got up and started taking the other victims out of their shackles. Cas went over to Elli and checked her again. She looked up at him, and when Dean glanced over he suddenly felt…angry? No, that wasn't it. Aw hell, he was jealous. Elli was giving Cas _the look_ and Cas was totally clueless, he was just being his usual self. She started to get to her feet and Cas helped her up.

"You need any help with cleanup?" She asked.

"No, I think we can handle it."

Cas stepped over to the body and touched it, and it vanished. Body, head, blood and all.

"Neat trick."

"Thanks." He said.

Later on, after getting all of the victims out of their restraints and calling the cops to come deal with the mess, Elli took them out for drinks. They didn't really want to go, it wasn't really policy to hang around with the people they helped, but she insisted, and Dean couldn't refuse.

"So, is it just you two or are there others?" She asked, taking a sip from her Drink. They had snagged a booth in the back. Dean was sitting beside her and Castiel was sitting across from them, chugging down his beer.

"You mean…other hunters?" Dean asked, and she nodded.

"Uh, about five or six that I know of. Used to be a lot more but…this business isn't exactly the healthiest. We all help each other out but I wouldn't call any of them friends. Well, except for my brother and Cas's sister. We're close with them."

"So where are they?"

"Currently on parental leave." Dean said, taking a drink. Cas looked uncomfortable, like he didn't exactly feel right there. "She had his kid a couple of weeks ago."

"Aww that's so sweet. Sort of an office romance kind of thing?"

"I guess you could call it that."

"So, your niece, how cute is she?"

Dean rolled his eyes and took out his phone. He acted exasperated but really he was proud as he flipped through his pictures and found one of Thalia. He pointed the screen toward Elli and she took the phone to look at it. She glanced between Dean and the picture.

"She has your mouth."

"Yeah, I thought so too. Kind of hoping she has my attitude, it'd serve my brother right."

She looked at Cas. "You must be happy, too, having a niece."

"I do not feel the need to propagate my bloodline in the way humans do."

Elli's brows furrowed, and Dean gave him that "At least try to act like a person" look.

"I am, however, incredibly pleased on behalf of my sister. I know she loves her child very much." He just decided to stop talking and kept drinking again. Elli just snorted at his flat way of speaking.

A few rounds of drinks later, Dean told Elli that Cas could down shots faster than anyone, and she wouldn't believe it. He got the waitress to line up ten in front of Cas, who promptly downed them all. Elli was obviously impressed, especially by the fact that as much as he had been drinking, Castiel barely seemed affected by it.

It was getting late, and in about thirty minutes the bar would be closing up. Elli looked around. "What do you say we get out of here?" She said suggestively, running her hand down the lapel of Dean's leather jacket. Dean swallowed hard, "Sure, I mean…yeah. You wanna just…go back to the motel?"

"Yeah." She looked over at Cas. "You too, blue eyes."

They both sort of jerked and looked at her. "What?" Dean said.

"Oh, come on, you can't tell me this hasn't happened at least once." She said, finishing off her drink. "You're both gorgeous, I'd have thought you'd be getting offers like this all of the time."

"I can honestly say it's never happened." He didn't count that time Pamela joked about it, because he didn't like to think about that, plus that had been about him and Sam, not him and Cas.

"Seriously? I'm the first? Wow, way to make me feel like a slut."

Cas tilted his head at her, then looked at Dean. "I'm not entirely understanding what we are talking about."

Elli gave a cute little gigglesnort, which Dean couldn't help but smile at. "I'll tell you what, I'll go take care of the bill, and you two can just…take a minute to talk this over."

She pulled out her wallet and then slid out of the booth, walking over to the bar. Dean looked at Cas. "She wants us, Cas. As in both of us, at once, at least that's the impression I'm getting."

"I don't know if I'm entirely comfortable with that, Dean."

"Yeah, me neither, but damn she's cute."

"Is that reason enough?"

Dean looked Castiel up and down and then at Elli. He leaned forward and whispered. "I think we should."

"What? Why?"

"I promised you I'd get you laid, right?"

"Yes but this is highly unusual." He looked down and away, obviously embarrassed by having this conversation at all.

"Our whole lives are unusual, at this point, this kind of thing is average."

"I still don't-"

Dean reached forward and moved Castiel's face so that their eyes met. "Cas, just take my word on this, okay?" He pulled his hand away. After a moment of silence, the angel nodded. A few seconds later Elli came back to the table. She propped herself up on it and leaned forward. "So, are we all going back to the motel or my place?"

Dean closed the door of the motel room, watching Elli saunter away to the bathroom for a second. He looked at Cas, who still looked like he didn't understand what was going on or what he had agreed to a few minutes before in the bar.

"You okay, buddy?" Dean asked, stepping over and putting a reassuring hand on his back. "I'm not sure," Castiel said, and Dean just chuckled, stepping away to strip off his jacket and lay it over the back of a chair. "This will go a lot easier if you just relax, Cas. Stressing isn't going to help anything."

Elli came back out. Her hair was down now and her makeup had been touched up a bit. She peeled her jacket off and just let it fall to the floor. She looked between them and walked up to Castiel, running her hand into his hair and pulling him in for a kiss. When she broke away and walked around him, hooking her fingers into the trenchcoat and slowly pulling it off, along with his suit jacket, Castiel looked uncertainly at Dean. The Hunter stepped over to his angel, reaching for his tie like he had done a dozen times to straighten it, only this time he began to pull it off.

He looked into Castiel's eyes. He could see his friend did not know what to make of any of this. He leaned in and whispered, "You trust me, right?" He pulled away and pulled the tie out of his collar, pulling it between his hands like a length of rope. Castiel nodded. The hunter handed the tie to Elli. "So trust me." He said, just before the woman put the tie over his eyes and tied it on tight, making his whole world go black.


	14. Chapter 14

Dean opened his eyes and there was sunlight streaming through the windows. He blinked to make them adjust and the first thing he saw clearly was the Dragon tattoo of the girl lying with her back turned to him. He traced the dark lines with his finger, then forced himself to sit up. He looked over her, looking for Cas, mostly, but didn't see him. Cautiously, he looked on his other side, still no Cas. He looked around the room, his clothes were gone, and so, it seemed, was he.

Dean rolled over out of the bed, planting his feet on the floor and looking around for his underwear. Elli groaned and stretched, then rolled onto her back and sat up on her elbows, bare to the waist and covered only by a sheet. "Morning, gorgeous." She said before pushing a ton of hair out of her face. She looked around. "Where's Cas?"

"I don't know. Did you see or hear him leave any time this morning?"

"No."

"Well, damn."

Dean found his boxers, the satiny ones that Sera got him, and stepped into them, pulling them up. Elli smiled, then rolled out of bed, looking around for her own clothes. "So, breakfast?"

"Sure." He looked around. "You know what? I'll go get it. You chill out, take a shower or whatever. What do you want?"

"Honestly? You know a place that sells burgers and Coke this early?"

Dean dropped the shirt he had picked up to put on and just stared at her. Elli blushed and shook her head. "It's weird, I know, sorry, forget I said it." He stepped toward her and took her face in his hands and planted a kiss on her. She looked a little shocked. "What was that for?"

"For being perfect."

Elli's whole face turned red. Dean didn't think any girl that initiated a threesome could go red so easily, but she did. "I'll just…go shower then…" She said, pulling away and walking towards the bathroom. He watched her, admiring her skin until she closed the door. He pulled on his clothes and walked out, pulling his cell phone out of his Jacket pocket. While they were staying with Sam and Sera, they had finally gotten him to program his voicemail box correctly, and unfortunately that was all Dean got.

"Cas, where are you man? You can't just disappear on me like that. Call me or something when you get this, okay?" He said, sounding rather frantic, before hanging up and getting into the Impala.

While he was driving around looking for a place that served cheeseburgers at nine a.m., the images of the night before played over and over in his mind, so much that he wished he could get them out. He'd done some kinky stuff with chicks before but this was….this was different…and even though Cas was blindfolded Dean had seen everything that was going on. He hoped Cas hadn't been able to tell which parts were him.

He finally found a place, made the incredibly strange order and then took it back to the motel, on the way there he dialed the house. Sera answered the phone.

"Hello?"

"Hey Sera."

"Hey Dean, what's up?"

"You can't sense what I'm feeling already?"

"Not really. Like I said before the less the interact the weaker the connection gets. So tell me."

"Is Cas there with you?"

"Why would he be? What happened?"

"Some…stuff went down last night."

"What kind of stuff, are you hurt? Was he hurt? Why do you not know where he is?"

"No, sis, calm down. The job went off without a hitch, alright? It's what happened afterwards that was…unusual."

"The tone of voice you're saying that in is making me thing a lot of dirty things, Dean."

"There was this girl we were working with, she got captured. When we saved her she took us out for drinks, then we went back to the motel and…"

"We as in you and her?"

"We as in all three of us."

"Oh, damn. So…was it good?"

"Somehow I'd knew you'd go there. I don't want to talk about it, alright? But I woke up this morning and Cas had bailed and he's not answering his phone." He pulled into the parking lot of the motel.

"If I hear anything I'll call you, but I haven't. Have you tried summoning him yet?"

"No, she's still in the room." He said as he got out of the car, takeout boxes in hand. He held the phone to his ear with his shoulder. "Didn't want to do anything to freak her out any more than she must be already."

"Well when she leaves, try it."

"I will." He opened the door with one hand and walked in. Elli was sitting on the bed in a towel brushing her hair.

"So tell me, how was it? Was it good? I'm going to keep calling you back until you answer."

"I'll keep ignoring it."

"No you won't, you're too worried about where Cas went off to."

Dean sighed and then whispered into the phone. "Fine, yes, alright? Now stop riding me."

"Bet that's not what you said last night."

"Goodbye, Sera." He said firmly.

"Bye Dean," she said, laughing.

Elli looked up as he hung up with a questioning look. "Sister in law," he said, gesturing toward the phone. He opened one of the Styrofoam boxes to see his food, then slid the other one across the table toward Elli, as well as a paper drink cup full of Coke with a straw.

"Still no word from blue eyes?"

"Nope," Dean said, shaking his head and trying to act like he didn't care as he sat down to his bacon cheeseburger. She smiled and then found her scrunchie and put her hair up in a ponytail, looking around and pulling on her clothes, throwing the towel aside. As soon as she was dressed she walked over to the table and sat in the chair that was closest to her food, checking what was on it before picking it up and taking a bite.

"So what's going on between you two, anyway?" Elli asked through a mouthful of food before sticking the straw through the lid of her drink and sucking down some Coke.

"What do you mean?"

"I mean that the two of you look at each other like you have this really deep thing. Judging by the way you were acting last night you're not you know, together together…or at least haven't been before now…so is there a story there?"

"A really long one I cannot go into."

"That's okay. I kind of get it. It's like…Kyrumption or whatever."

"What?"

"It's this thing from Angel. Some word in a demon language. Basically it's a name for the bond formed between warriors on the battlefield. That sort of weird emotional, physical adrenaline-based thing that makes you unsure of whether you want to fight or you know…copulate like bunnies during mating season."

"That happens on battlefields?"

"Apparently. You know the greatest war machine in history, the Roman army at it's height, they were all having sex with each other. All the time."

"Seriously?" He asked, and she nodded. "Wow." He took a big bite out of his cheeseburger, thankful it meant he didn't have to talk as long as he was chewing. He had a lot to mull over.

Elli finished her food first, she was a fast eater. She tossed her box in the trash as she kept sucking down the Coke. She looked around. "Do you know where my jacket got to?"

"I think it's under the bed," He said, pointing towards a section where what looked like a sleeve was poking out from beneath the crumpled covers. She pulled it out and put it on, then did a final check to make sure she hadn't forgotten anything.

"You heading out?"

"I think that's best, don't you?"

Dean didn't want to say yes.

"If you guys are ever in town again, or just passing through or whatever, you have my number."

"If we ever come back through ,I will definitely give you a call, and don't be shy about calling us either, if anything weird starts happening."

"Will do." She looked him up and down again before heading for the door.

"Wait," He said, "You need a ride back home?"

"No, I'll walk, it's fine. Never done a walk of shame before, should be fun."

"Well, okay. See you around, Elli."

"Later, Dean." She said, walking out. As soon as she was gone Dean took out his phone and started staring at it, calling Cas's phone again but hanging up before it went ot voicemail. After the third or fifth time, he started packing up.

He slammed the trunk of the Impala and turned around, stopping short when he almost ran into Cas. "Jesus, man, you almost gave me a heart attack."

He took a deep breath and got himself level. "Apologies," Cas said flatly. "It was not my intention. I thought you would be inside."

"It's okay. Where'd you disappear to?"

"I…had some thinking to do. It was better if I was not disturbed."

"Didn't you check your phone?"

"I did a few moments ago. Your messages sounded rather…frantic."

Dean cleared his throat uncomfortably and started rubbing the back of his neck. "Did they? I didn't realize."

"Are we getting back on the road now?"

"Uh, yeah, sure." He said, turning around and heading for the driver's seat. He got in, and Cas joined him a moment later. Dean noticed their knees were touching. He tried not to make too much of it.


	15. Chapter 15

Dean shot up awake in the back of the Impala. They had been in the middle of nowhere when Dean had started falling asleep at the wheel the night before and Cas insisted they find somewhere to stop. They ended up parking in a field and Dean fell asleep in the backseat, looking out the window at the stars.

"Bad dream?" Cas asked. He was sitting where Dean had left him the night before, when they had fallen asleep talking nonsense to each other, in the passenger seat.

"Yeah," Dean said, in a grumpy still-half-asleep voice. "What time is it?"

"Almost eight. You only slept for four hours."

"More than usual."

"It is the 24th, Dean."

"What?" He said groggily, as if not registering the significance of the date. Cas turned to look at him. "It is your birthday."

He looked at his watch. Sure enough, it was January 24. "Well, how about that."

"Happy Birthday, Dean."

"Thanks, Cas." He climbed up into the passenger seat and ruffled his hair. He opened the door and got out, walking around the car and stretching out his stiff muscles. Castiel suddenly appeared beside him, but this time he didn't jump. Maybe he was getting used to it. "Sera tells me marking the date of birth is important to humans."

"Most of them, yeah."

"Should I be doing something?"

"Like what, baking me a cake? Buying a present? No, it's fine. I really am not that big on celebrating my birthday."

"Why not? You have more reason to celebrate another year of survival than most."

"Just because…I never really celebrated it growing up or anything…and I don't really celebrate any holidays so it just seems kind of stupid."

"Oh." Cas said, looking mildly disappointed. He looked from Cas to the car.

"Hey, since we've got a bit of time and we're out here in the middle of nothing, how about I teach you how to drive?"

"Why would I require such a skill?"

"Well, because then you could drive while I sleep, and it wouldn't take so long for us to get to where we're going."

"I suppose that would be…useful."

Dean took the keys out of his jacket pocket and handed them over to Cas. The angel clasped his hand around them, and the majority of Dean's hand. They sort of froze there for a moment and glanced up at each other. Finally Cas started to pull away, sliding his fingers across the skin of Dean's hand. Dean looked down and kept his eyes on the keys, then shook himself and turned, walking around the front of the car to get to the passenger's side and sliding in.

After a rather bumpy start of nearly crashing into a tree trying to get out of the field, Cas picked up the skill with relative ease. Apparently all of that time he had been spending with Dean in the car, he had been watching every movement and nuance. Not just how to operate the car but how to react to it. He mimicked Dean's driving habits down to the last detail. Dean couldn't help but laugh at the slightly pleased look on the angel's face at receiving his praises.

"This is a rather slow and inconvenient method of transportation."

"Yeah, well, you never know, someday you might need it. Who knows when you might get drained of your powers or something again?"

"I had not considered that." Castiel said flatly, looking over at Dean.

"Seriously Cas, watch the road."

"You don't."

"What?"

"The majority of the time I have been riding with you, you spend more time looking at me that watching the road or the other cars. It has nearly gotten you killed twice."

Dean really hadn't realized that. He suddenly tensed up and sat looking straight forward, turning up the radio so that they wouldn't have to talk.

They stopped at a gas station just outside of a town near noon. Cas leaned on the car and called Seraphiel while he waited for Dean to come out. He had to have a little back and forth with Sam first, as Sera was busy feeding Thalia. It was a lot of nonsense that Cas did not fully comprehend the necessity of. He still had not mastered the art of small talk. He didn't understand why they could not just sit in silence instead of talking about the weather or the last job they were on. Finally Sera got on the line.

"Hey Cas," She said cheerfully.

"Hello Sera. I have something of importance to speak with you about."

"What's bothering you?"

"Today is Dean's birthday."

"Yeah, I know."

"He says I shouldn't do anything, but he says that about a lot of things. You told me birthdays are important, what should I do?"

Sera sighed into the receiver. "Dean isn't the type of guy who likes big deals made out of relatively normal things, it just reminds him that his life isn't normal, so don't do anything. If it keeps bothering you, then get him like, a cherry pie or something later tonight, but don't say it's for his birthday."

"He is a difficult human to please."

"That he is, but that's your curse for being the first one to get to him and pull him out of Hell. You're stuck together, bro."

"Thank you, Sera." He said, back to his usual flat tone, and then hung up the phone and shoved it in his pocket just as Dean was walking out with a bag full of snack food, which he handed off to Cas before proceeding to fill up the tank.

"This is definitely the place. A bunch of bodies went missing from the morgue over the past couple of weeks. Might just be ghouls but it's worth checking out."

"Agreed."

"I think as many cameras are on this town we shouldn't bother trying to sneak into a motel. We'll drive around, find an abandoned house or something to set up base in." He looked up from the pump. "I better drive while we're in town. We don't have a fake driver's license for you."

Castiel just nodded. Dean noticed he had his thinking face on.

"You okay?" He asked. The angel glanced over and gave an obviously nervous nod.

"This isn't still about the birthday thing is it?" When Castiel didn't give an answer Dean rolled his eyes and sighed, finishing up filling up the tank then putting the pump back in its place. "Look, I said you don't have to do anything," He said, walking around the car until he got to Cas. "That should make things easy."

"Somehow it doesn't."

"If you're going to sulk about this all day I could just leave you and find a place myself until you get over it."

"No, I will come with you." Castiel did not want to leave Dean alone wandering around for too long. He tended to get into trouble. It was different if he was sleeping or there wasn't a job to be done but if he was out and moving around…Cas instantly tried to not look like he was sulking and just turned and got into the passenger's side of the car.

They found a place, a little inconspicuous house that had probably been on the market forever. There was a for sale sign that had fallen down into the grass and it looked like no one had been maintaining it. Dean hid the car behind it and then laid out a pallet to sleep on in one of the bedrooms.

"That doesn't look very comfortable."

"It isn't, but a hunter's gotta do what a hunter's gotta do." After smoothing it out he went over to his bag and pulled out the laptop and charger cable. Surprisingly, the place still had electricity. Castiel looked around the place, and then looked at Dean, who was heavily concentrated on his research.

"I'll search the town, see if I can find anything." He said, and disappeared before Dean could look up to acknowledge him.

It was dark before Castiel returned. Dean was actually worried, because usually it only took him moments to search somewhere. When he appeared again Dean was leaning against the kitchen counter drinking a beer.

"Hey, where have you been off to?" He asked, noticing Cas was carrying a box that looked like it was from a bakery and a paper sack that obviously contained food. It suddenly hit him what it could be.

"I swear, Cas" He said, straightening and stepping towards the angel. "If you got me a birthday cake I'll smash it in your face."

"I did not." Castiel said, he was attempting his usual tone but Dean could tell he was trying to hide his enthusiasm about something.

"Then what's this about?" Dean asked, gesturing towards the food.

"Just dinner," he shrugged.

"Okay then," Dean said, backing up and returning to his position against the counter. Castiel stepped forward and set them on the counter just next to him. He got really, really close to Dean to do it but he wasn't looking at him, just acting like he was performing a regular action and Dean wasn't even there. He stepped away and Dean picked up the paper sack, opening it to see his favorite bacon cheeseburgers. Literally, the best ones he had ever had from that roadside stand, the same kind that Zachariah had once tried to bribe him with, along with some chili cheese fries and pickle chips. It was the meal he would have chosen for his last meal on death row.

He looked at the bakery box and recognized the label. It was a bakery he remembered. He opened the top and sure enough there was a cherry pie inside. He shot Cas a look, the "I know what you're doing but I can't say anything," look, and when Cas turned away and peeled off his trench coat he had to smile to himself in silent victory. Dean kept his eyes on the angel as he walked out of the room and hung his trenchcoat up on a hook just on the other side of the wall. Despite how many times he had seen Cas without it, he still seemed naked if he didn't have it on. Even more naked than actually naked.

Dean thought about the day they brought him back in the flesh. Even though that day for a while he was wearing nothing but the trench coat Dean hadn't really noticed, but without it…it was strange. Castiel walked back in, Dean noticed he was glancing over covertly as he kept his head down, trying to see if Dean liked what he was eating. He was reminded of a scene he saw in a movie once with Ben, when there was this cartoon dragon watching some kid eat a fish he had brought him. The look on Castiel's face was basically the same one that the dragon had.

Dean moaned and had a smile on his face as he chewed, because he really did love these burgers. When he saw Castiel's hint of a smile, for some reason he felt like his legs were going to give out from under him. The hell was happening to him? Whatever it was, Dean was pretty sure he didn't like it.


	16. Chapter 16

Dean took a swig from his beer bottle and then belched. "Man, that was good." He rolled up the paper bag that now was just full of trash.

"I am glad it pleased you." Castiel said, and Dean nearly choked on his beer. "Seriously Cas, we need to work on your syntax."

"My what?"

"Your speech patterns. The way you speak so literally, it leads to a lot of confusion."

"I am more confused by people who do not say what they mean."

There was silence as Dean considered that statement. "You know what? Nevermind. I like the way you talk."

"You do?"

"Yeah, like Sera said before, there aren't a lot of laughs in the life. You not understanding things and always messing up your words is…" Dean struggled to find a word.

"Cute?" Castiel provided. He'd heard Sera use the word to describe his little issue before, and thought by the way it was used, that it was the most appropriate. Dean looked up from his crossed arms, obviously battling whether or not to agree with it.

"Yeah," He said. "It's cute."

They just kind of looked at each other for a moment, the tension building and tightening across the length of the room. Dean thought it was steadily getting awkward, because all he was thinking about was that night they spent with Elli, and where their hands and mouths had been. Not just on her, but on each other. He thought Cas was lucky, because he didn't have the images burned into his brain. He'd been blindfolded the whole time.

Dean looked away, remembering there was a pie behind him he could use as an excuse. He opened the box and took the knife from the pocket of his jeans, flipping it open. He held the open box on his flat palm and extended out toward Castiel. "Wanna split it?"

Castiel took a few steps towards him and took the box away so Dean wouldn't drop it. The Angel looked at the Hunter and nodded.

They sat on the floor of the bedroom. Dean had cut the pie into slices but they had just taken the plastic forks in the bottom if the box and were eating it straight out of the tin, because they didn't have plates anyway. Castiel, of course, would have been willing to go get some, but Dean had waved him off.

"How'd you know, Cas? I mean, I know how you knew about the burgers from when I was hostage but how did you know about the pie?"

"I know everything about you, Dean." He said, stabbing his fork in and shoving more of the pastry and red goo into his mouth.

Dean's brows furrowed suddenly. "Everything?"

"Angels have been watching you as long as you have existed, and your bloodline long before that. I watched you grow up."

"That's…kind of creepy."

"Regardless, it happened. I know all of your favorite foods, what your favorite music is, colors and days and cases that you prefer."

"You can stop now."

"I was simply illustrating my point."

"Well, I get it. You've painted a pretty clear picture."

They ate in silence for a few more seconds. Dean noticed Castiel glance at the two amulets he wore and then give a little smile before taking another bite.

"What?" Dean said.

"Sorry?" Cas asked, confused.

"You have a weird look on your face, what's on your mind?"

Cas looked away.

"Come on, you know I don't like it when you keep things from me."

"I was just…remembering something."

"What?"

Dean could swear Cas was starting to turn red. "Just that…you never take your amulet off unless you have to, or it hurts to much to wear, or you're showering, because water ruins the leather and you got tired of replacing the cord…"

"That's what you started blushing for?"

Castiel licked some traces of cherry filling from his lips, maybe purposefully, but Dean thought it looked reflexive. "No. I was thinking about how they felt."

Dean nearly dropped his fork. "What?"

"The other night…with that girl," Cas looked off, "The edges of the one Sam gave you kept stabbing into me. My chest, my thighs. I didn't mind it, though."

Dean looked down at the amulets and clasped his hand around them. The metal of one stabbed into his palm and the clay felt smooth beneath his fingers. Hell, he thought. He knew he should have taken them off. It was a dead giveaway. He looked up but then couldn't look Castiel in the eye.

"I have said something wrong." The Angel said, suddenly sulking.

"No, Cas." Dean insisted. "It's…fine, really it's not anything you said or did it's…it's all me." He got up and walked out of the room, suddenly tense with heavy steps. He walked into the kitchen and leaned on the counter, looking out the window into the darkness. He took a few deep breaths, then heard Castiel's voice, incredibly close. "Dean?" He felt his hand on his shoulder, and turned to face him. Dean looked the angel up and down and then squeezed his eyes shut.

He breathed in through his nose and caught Castiel's scent, that scent he had inhaled for months that lingered on the trench coat after his death, it was a scent that meant safety. Dean sometimes thought that it was the smell of Heaven but no, it was just Castiel. He opened his eyes and saw the angel, the look on his face that said he would do anything to help his hunter, his friend.

Cas looked down at Dean's hand as it grabbed his tie and twirled it around his hand. He was suddenly pulled forward, and Dean's mouth pressed to his. Dean was surprised when Cas's fingers slid up into his hair and clenched it, then the angel pressed closer against him, slamming him into the edge of the counter, but Dean didn't seem to notice the pain. He opened his mouth and slipped his tongue into Castiel's, savoring the taste of cherry pie in his mouth and the grating texture of his teeth.

He broke away from him, gasping for air. He hadn't seemed to realize what he was doing until that moment. Dean pushed the angle away and stormed off. Ignoring the call of "Dean!" as he left the house, slamming the door. Cas watched from the window as the headlights of the Impala lit up and disappeared into the night.

Cas twiddled the cell phone, flipping it over and over again in his hand, hoping that one time he would turn the screen towards him and it would be lit, that Dean would call him back. He sat in a rickety chair, wondering what he had done to warrant such a harsh reaction. Dean had kissed _him_ after all. He had been the one to convince him to go to bed with him and that girl. Now he was angry with him. But why? Castiel did not fully understand.

The phone lit up and vibrated in his hand. He turned it over and saw who was calling. It wasn't Dean, just Sera or Sam. He pressed the green button and put the phone to his ear. "Hello?"

"Cas, are you okay?"

"Physically I am fine."

"Not what I asked."

"I am not at a level of emotional stability, no."

"What about Dean?"

"He's not here. I do not know where he is."

"Yeah, I figured as much. He's not answering his phone."

"He ran off."

"Tell me what happened."

Castiel recounted the events of the evening to her in his usual tone of voice. "Then he became upset. I followed him into the kitchen, he kissed me, and then pushed me away and left."

"Wait…what?"

"I said he left."

"No, before that. He kissed you?"

"Yes."

There was a pause. On the other end of the line, Sera had her hand over her mouth, trying to control the noises she was making before speaking again. Finally she cleared her throat, "Was it good?"

"I have not kissed enough people to do a comparison."

"Yeah but…did you like it?"

Castiel considered this question. "It was not terrible."

"Aw, come on, I want details. Did it make you feel all tingly?"

"Why are you so interested?"

She sighed. "Never mind. Any idea where he could have gone?"

"He may have gone after whatever has been stealing bodies, but I did not find them when I searched the town and if he figured out what it was he did not tell me."

"I'm sure he'll be back, Cas. He's probably just…confused."

"Why would he be confused?"

"Because he's human, and hetero, and you're in a male vessel. I've explained this to you before. Just don't worry. It's not anything you did, he's not mad at you. If anything he's mad at himself, or maybe the universe, but not you."

"I'll try, but ot's hard not to feel as if I did something wrong."

"Maybe you'll get lucky and he'll spank you."

"What?"

"Nothing. Just…call me when you hear from him, okay? I'm getting some weird fluctuating vibes, I want to make sure he's okay. Unless, you know, you guys are busy."

"What would we be-"

"Think about it, Cas." Sera interjected. "Love you guys. Bye." She hung up before Cas could say anything. He looked disappointedly at the phone for a moment before just setting it down on his leg and raking his hand down his face. He had to admit to himself that he was incredibly worried about Dean. He couldn't sense him unless he prayed for him, and Dean wouldn't take that risk even if he was in danger, he knew that, because it might alert the other angels to Castiel's position.

He got up and started pacing, because that's what Sam had done when he was worried about Seraphiel and it seemed to help him. He did feel that doing SOMETHING was better than just sitting there.

Dean burst into the house the next morning, cloing the door behind him. He was covered in blood. He tried to wipe some of it off of his face with his jacket sleeve but it just ended up spreading it around. Castiel stepped out into the hall and looked at him. "What happened?"

"I was right, they were ghouls. I was going to leave them alone but…they weren't just stealing the bodies, they were causing the accidents that killed them." He spat and the spit was swirled with red. "It got really hairy there for a bit. There was a whole family of them, fought all of them off." He pulled his jacket pack and pulled a hunting knife from his belt. "Killed all five of them with this."

"Why didn't you call? I could have helped."

"I was okay on my own. Needed to…blow off a little steam." He put the knife back in his belt and then walked past Cas to the bedroom. Castiel followed him but stayed in the doorway, watching him as he peeled off his jacket. "So, do you feel better now?" Castiel asked.

"What?"

"Well when you left you seemed…angry. You look less so now."

"Yeah, I guess I am." He said, turning away from Cas and shedding his layers, finally peeling off his black shirt. The blood hadn't soaked through all the layers on his chest but when he turned to rifle through his duffle bag Cas could see a smear of it across his chest and down his abdomen. Dean found what he was looking for, a couple of wet wipes. He ripped one of them open and began cleaning the blood off with it, starting with his face and neck.

"Sera called."

"Yeah?"

"She said she was picking up weird vibes from you and you wouldn't answer your phone."

"Uh, yeah, I turned it off and left it in the car. Didn't want to talk to anyone."

Castiel looked down at the floor. He was mulling things over. "Should we talk?" He asked.

"We are talking." Dean said, obviously avoiding the issue.

"I mean about what happened before you left." He said, straightening. "On those tv shows you make me watch when something like this happens, someone always says 'we need to talk.'"

Dean stopped cleaning blood off his arm and glanced up at Cas. "I don't think there's anything to talk about."

"Nor do I."

"Good, glad we're on the same page." He said, resuming to clean himself up. He ran the wipe through his hair before just tossing it aside. "I'm tired of monsters, man. What I wouldn't give for a good haunting or something. Haven't gone up against a ghost in a while. Hell, at this point I'd even take a witch, just for some variety."

"Hopefully we will come across something soon." Castiel tilted is head, staring down Dean's back. "It has gotten strangely monotonous, now that we aren't fighting against Heaven, Hell and each other."

"Hey, who is running the show upstairs now?"

"Sera says not to worry about it."

"And of course, since she says it, you don't question it."

"Precisely."

"That still seems weird to me."

"You don't complain when I do everything you ask, when I follow your orders, and you are just a human. An extraordinary human, but a human nonetheless. Seraphiel is one of the angels closest to God and has always put the good of humanity above everything else, even her own life and happiness. Why should I not follow her blindly? Your brother does."

"I don't want you to follow anyone blindly, Cas. Not even me."

"You try to order me around all of the time."

"Yeah, but I keep hoping you'll bite back and say no."

"Really?"

"Yeah." Dean said, rifling through his duffle bag for a clean shirt. "Damn, I really need to do my laundry." He looked down at his pants. They were covered in blood too. Dean just rolled his eyes and then turned and looked at Cas, who lifted his eyes. Dean tried really hard not to think that he was checking out his ass, but it found its way into his head anyway. Dean took a second to notice that now, not only did Cas not have his trench coat on, but his suit jacket and tie were gone and his shirt was not tucked in. Also, he wasn't wearing any shoes. It seemed oddly casual of him.

What Dean didn't know was that it was a product of nervousness. Cas had removed and undone certain articles of clothing because they had inhibited his pacing. He had taken off the tie because every time he looked at it now he saw it wrapped up in Dean's hand. The shoes had made an annoying noise against the creaking floor.

"Cas?"

"Yes Dean?"

"I'm glad you didn't listen to me."

"About what, precisely?"

"Not doing anything for my birthday. That was nice, getting me all of my favorite stuff and…" he cleared his throat. "Just, everything. This has been one of my better birthdays. Good food, a good friend, got to kick a little ass. Definitely have had worse."

"I am glad for that."

There was a slight buzzing noise and Dean looked around. Cas pulled his phone out and answered it. "Hello Sera. Yes, he's here, and he's fine. I was right, he went after the ghouls." There was a long pause. "I was going to call you…stop yelling at me." Another long pause. "I don't know, let me ask him." Cas extended the phone towards Dean. "Do you want to talk to her?"

Dean stepped forward and took the phone from him. "Hey sis. If you're calling to tell me Happy Birthday or whatever you can just shove it."

"He told me you guys kissed, Dean."

There was a long, obviously mortified silence.

"What?"

"Don't overreact on me or anything, and as far as I know Sam doesn't know, although he is pretty sneaky. He might be listening on another line right now and I wouldn't even know. I just wanted to tell you next time take pictures."

"I really hate you right now."

"No you don't. You love me and you know it."

"Less and less by the second."

"Just don't scare me like you did today over something so stupid, alright? I was freaking out. What with all the fear and confusion and pain and adrenaline I thought you were dying or something."

"I'm not making you any promises."

"Not asking for any. What I will ask for is a favor."

"It depends on what it is."

"Well, you know Valentine's Day is coming up, and I wanted some alone time with Sam…could you guys maybe watch Thalia for a night? If you have other plans I would completely understand but this would really mean a lot."

Normally he would deny everything, ask stupid questions like "Why would we have plans?" But today he just decided not to put up a front. "We'll get back to you." He said, before hanging up and handing Cas his phone back. When he moved to walk away, Cas held onto his hand. Dean turned back around to face him.

"Yeah?"

"I find there is something I wish to do." He touched the cell phone with his thumb and it vanished so it was just his hand around Dean's. He put his other hand over his handprint on Dean's upper arm, then stepped forward, closing any distance there was between them.

"Cas, please, no." Dean said, trying to be commanding.

"I am afraid I will have to refuse that order." He said, gripping him tight and pulling Dean against him. Castiel covered Dean's mouth with his own, and it was honestly a very sweet, closed-mouth kiss. Dean hadn't been kissed with such pure innocence and blind affection since his very first kiss when he was twelve. In fact, probably not even then. It was kind of making him dizzy.

Castiel pulled away, although as he let go of Dean's hand and arm his fingers lingered, as they tended to do. He turned and started to walk away, but this time Dean was the one to stop him. He grabbed his wrist, and Castiel stumbled slightly before turning to look. He glanced at where Dean's hand was clamped on his arm, and then moved slowly up to Dean's face.

"You don't have to leave."


	17. Chapter 17

Castiel tilted his head at Dean in that curious kitten-like way he liked to look at things. Dean wondered if Cas thought the world would make more sense if it was tilted. He couldn't help but smile. He let go of Cas's wrist and turned, taking a few steps away to continue what he had been doing, cleaning himself up.

Castiel walked over and picked one of the wet wipes up, opening the package and pulling out the wet cloth, lifting the cords of the amulets from Dean's neck and cleaning off his neck beneath them. Dean was frozen, not want to move for the few seconds Cas was cleaning the blood from his skin. The only movement he made was the rise and fall of his chest with every raspy breath. He didn't relax until he felt the leather string make contact with his skin again.

"What did you do with the bodies?" Cas asked.

"Burned them all."

"That explains the smell."

"Smell?"

"On your clothes, and in your hair. Smoke and burnt flesh and burning hair, mixed with all of the blood, and now alcohol."

"Yeah, that's pretty thorough." He said, not being able to help the fact that he was mildly impressed with Castiel's sense of smell.

"I sense things differently, now that I am stuck in physical form."

"Really?"

"Yes. Since Sera brought me back like this I see and smell things differently. Everything seems more…real I guess. Solid, physical. Before I was disconnected from everything, and everything was dull in comparison to Heaven. I didn't feel things quite so much. Now that I can't go back, the more time I spend here the more intense everything is."

"That's a good thing, right?"

"I suppose. Sera say it makes me more human, which everyone keeps saying is a good thing."

"It is a good thing, Cas."

"I don't understand why. I am an Angel, still, even though I have been limited, and I have to admit I have changed. The more I am around people the more I change, but I am not convinced it was for the better."

"Of course it is."

Castiel glanced up. "You like that I have changed?"

"I like that you actually care about people now, and that you aren't Heaven's bitch anymore."

"All of that is because of you." Castiel crumpled the wet wipe and just dropped it, since that's what Dean had done. "You have forced me into feeling…well, just feeling. Angels are not supposed to…"

"I thought you'd gotten over worrying about what you're supposed to do?" Dean said, turning around to face him. "I mean, sakes, you nearly broke the world, Cas. I didn't think what you're supposed to be doing mattered much to you any more."

"I still think about it sometimes, the ease of blind faith that what I was doing was right. Everything in this world…living your way…it's just one big gray area."

Dean looked Castiel up and down. "I know what you mean. Things should be simpler."

"They should, but they are not, and wishing won't make anything better."

Dean glanced away, his eyes falling on his duffle bag. "Hey, I have an idea. I saw a bar in town…why don't I find a shirt and we can go out? It'd be better than staying in this house."

Castiel nodded. "I'd like that."

Sera stepped into the bedroom she shared with Sam, quietly clicking the door shut. He stood in front of the closet, shirtless and in his pajama pants, his favorite gray v-neck sleepshirt bunched on his arms like he was about to put it on, but stopped when she came in. Sera let out a sigh. "Finally got her down. I think she'll be out for a while."

He looked over at the clock. "Still pretty early."

"Yeah," she said, looking him up and down. "And I'm not tired at all."

Sam lowered his arms, letting the shirt drop to the floor, they rushed at each other and met at the mouth. Sam grabbed her thighs and she jumped up, locking her legs around his waist. Sera supported herself on him, putting one arm around his neck and the other hand into his hair. Sam turned and they fell onto their bed, he rolled his hips, grinding against her core, and she broke away from his mouth to let out a breathy moan. Suddenly the sound of Thalia crying came over the baby monitor. Sam groaned and his head dropped onto her shoulder. Sera rolled her eyes and pushed Sam up off of her, sitting up like she was going to go.

Sam pushed her shoulders down and stood up, "No, you stay, it's my turn, I'll go."

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah, definitely." He took a deep breath, shook himself out, then grabbed his shirt off the floor and pulled it on. When he walked past her again he brushed a kiss across her lips and then walked out the door. Sera scooted back on the bed, picking the baby monitor up from the night stand and listening. In the background of the crying she heard the creak of the door opening and the heaviness of Sam's footsteps across the floor.

"Shh, quiet Tally, Daddy's here." She heard some rustling and a slight grunt, meaning he picked her up, and after trying to shush her, he started to quietly sing, making Sera smile.

"_Remember, to let her into your heart, then you can start to make it better…"_ It was what they always sang to her, because in the first week when they had tried different ways of soothing her, of course Sera had tried singing, but when Dean took Tally in his arms early one morning and crooned "Hey Jude" she fell straight asleep, and now it was the only thing that worked. She pressed the button and put her mouth to it, and started singing along. She heard the little laugh of Sam's that she was waiting for.

Suddenly a shade came across her mood, darkening it. Even though she kept singing, the smile fell from her face and her voice. She knew this wasn't going to last, and that thought kept stabbing its way into her happy moments. She knew that she would have to leave, and that Death was coming for Sam, and the more she tried not to think about it the more it came across her mind. Suddenly her voice faded and she set the baby monitor back down. She tucked her knees into her chest and rested her head on them. Sera listened to Sam singing to his daughter, and that pain grew in her chest until it filled her whole body. She closed her eyes and tried to force it away.

Dean had insisted Cas use some of his reserved clothes, because his usual attire was not appropriate for the kind of place they were going. He was wearing an AC/DC t-shirt and a pair of jeans Sera had picked out, which meant they fit him perfectly in all the right places. Dean was covertly checking him out as he was bent over the pool table, and he cracked a smile when he heard the cue ball smack into one of the striped ones.

They had gotten quite a bit of practice in since Dean had first taught him how to play, and the angel had almost completely mastered the skill. He had not, however, learned how to purposefully lose. The closest they had come to getting him to hustle was when Dean lost on purpose and told Cas to ask for the opportunity to win it back.

Dean circled around the table, drinking his beer and analyzing the table before setting the bottle down and bending down, targeting the cue ball. He glanced up at Cas as he shot the stick forward, then straightened up. He looked around the bar, mostly by reflex to see if anyone was checking him out. There was movement by the door, and an all-too-familiar face walked in. It was Meg. She looked around until she locked eyes with Dean and gave him a big smile.

She walked over, all swagger as usual. Dean was staring so intently at her Cas turned to see what he was looking at, and his brows furrowed in confusion as to why Meg would be there.

"Hey there, boys," She said.

"What the hell are you doing here?" Dean asked sternly, and she made a face of faux surprise before smiling.

"This is a courtesy call, Deano. I've heard some things I thought you two should know." She turned her head towards Cas in a way that flipped her gorgeous dark hair, she looked him up and down. "Have you missed me, fly boy?"

"No." Castiel said flatly, and she snorted and turned back to Dean, taking a step forward. Some of the other people in the bar were looking over at them. "Crowley's up to something. I don't know what or who he's working with, but it's something to do with that miracle baby."

"Why are you telling us this?"

"You really have to ask? If I hated that Bastard before, the last few decades I've spent in his special torture Chamber in hell made it worse. I made a deal to help Sera and serve him to get out but that just means I have to follow his orders. He doesn't know I know about this so technically he didn't order me to keep my mouth shut."

"I thought no one was torturing in Hell anymore," Castiel said, trying not to make things too obvious by continuing the game. Meg and Dean both stopped to check out his ass as he bent over the table.

"Normally, no. He's streamlined it so that every soul is slowly being driven mad by waiting in line, but it's not enough to make more demons, and we need numbers, so instead of allowing the Quantity, he's taking the Quality. Serial killers and the like who were already pretty inhuman before they got to us, and he puts them in special torture chambers where some of the old set get to rip and tear at them until they give and rip and tear at the others." She angled her eyes over at Dean. "There is literally a special place in hell for those types now."

"Well, that's going to make me sleep better."

"Yeah, especially since the methods they're using are ones Crowley learned from watching Lucifer in his cage with your brother." She brushed a dark curl from her face.

"How did you even find us, anyway?"

"Crowley still has your car mystic low-jacked. He's forgotten about it but there's still a coin somewhere in there that tracks where you are." She pulled something out of her pocket, and Dean recognized it. "I nicked the other one off him. Oh, the things I've heard…"

"Shut up."

"What? Don't you want your little angel friend to know what you dream about when he's not there?"

"Meg, I swear I will kill you."

"Good, you'd be doing me a favor. Not existing would be better than being under Crowley's boot." She shoved the coin back in her pocket. "I'll be in touch." She said, and turned to walk away. She slid over and got up close to Castiel, grabbing his shirt and pulling him in. "And you, don't be a stranger." She let go of him and looked over her shoulder at Dean. "Don't worry, Deano, I'm more than willing to share," she said, before turning on her heel and walking away.

Dean and Cas both watched her go, and then Dean shook himself, trying to get rid of the skeevy feeling she left him with. He realized it was his turn and started circling the table again to decide on his move.

"So, I guess we're going up against Crowley."

"It is an opportunity I have been waiting for. Sera would not keep us from protecting her daughter."

"I think it's better if we leave her out of the loop on this, Cas. In case you haven't noticed, she has a soft spot for the King of Hell."

"I have."

"Even if we tell her, she might not believe us."

"Or she already knows and isn't worried because she knows it isn't going to work out."

"Regardless, we shouldn't bring it up." Dean made his move and hit a ball into the corner pocket, then started strategizing for another one.

"It's not just Crowley."

"What?"

"She doesn't just have a soft spot for Crowley. She has been known to traffic with many demons in the past."

"What? Do you know why?"

"Guilt. She believes the entire race is her fault, and she is partially correct."

Dean shot another one in. "How?"

"Before the Fall, before humans, Lucifer was God's favorite angel, and Seraphiel was the most trusted. They were essentially two sides of the same coin. She loved him almost as much as she loved out father, but then again mot of us did. He was beautiful and powerful, but when God made man and asked us to bow to them…well you know that story. He went to Seraphiel for help, because with a force as powerful as her at his side he would be unbeatable. She could just sing and all of the hosts would fall into line behind him, and she agreed. Sera said she would help him. But when it came time to put the plan into action, she couldn't, because God was watching and he stopped her. She betrayed Lucifer, and subsequently he was cast down."

"So…she feels guilty because what? She thinks that if she hadn't given him hope he wouldn't have gone through with it?"

"Perhaps. She has done her best over the years to try to stop them, to curry favors and help them maintain a piece of themselves even in the most torturous corners of Hell, but she knows they are necessary and there is nothing she can do to stop them."

"Sometimes I can't believe how much she really has on her shoulders. God, how does she manage to get up in the morning and smile at us all?"

"That is a mystery I do not have an answer for."


	18. Chapter 18

Dean and Cas had finished up their game and were sitting at the bar now. Dean was trying to teach Cas some dirty jokes, but he wasn't understanding why they were funny. He was starting to get exasperated. Dean just let out a sigh and turned away from him to the bar. "I give up."

"Sorry." Cas said.

"Oh, don't apologize, it's really not your fault."

Dean took a drink of his beer. Cas turned his back to the bar and leaned against it. "Why do you come to places like this?"

"Mostly to hustle pool and pick up chicks."

"So why are we here now?"

Dean glanced over at Cas and then took a nervous drink. He didn't want to say, even in his head, that they were on a date. That was just too much. He finally figured out a response but when he turned, suddenly some random girl was all over Cas. Cas glanced over at Dean with that, "Help me," look he got around girls most of the time. She was flirting and saying some really nasty things and touching him inappropriately. He scooted back and away but he didn't know how to outright reject someone on purpose. Dean stood up, grabbed her arm and pulled her off of the angel.

"Listen lady, my friend's not interested in drunk bar skanks. I suggest you find someone else before this becomes just plain embarrassing."

The woman glared at him, then pulled her arm away and started to walk off. Dean noticed something and then went after her, cutting her off. "And I'll have his wallet back, too."

She huffed, as if offended he should suggest she had taken anything. "It'd be useless to keep it, there's no money in it."

She rolled her eyes and pulled it out of her shirt, and Dean took it from her. She started to walk away and he stepped toward Cas. Suddenly she heard her say something behind his back, but he didn't understand it. He turned around to ask what she said, but she was gone. He shook it off and walked back over to Cas, smacking the wallet against his chest. Cas put his hand over Dean's to catch it as he took his hand away. "That girl…was strange."

"She was trying to hustle you, Cas."

"No, I mean she wasn't human."

"What?"

"Something in her eyes…her scent…she wasn't human but I couldn't put my finger on what she was, exactly. Not a demon, they give off a very specific scent."

"It was probably just the smell of drunk skank, Cas."

"No, something was off about her…"

"Forget about her." Dean said, sliding back onto his stool and taking another drink. He took a drink and then looked over at the angel, who had a strange look on his face. "You okay, man?"

"I want to go back to the house."

"Why?"

Cas looked over at him, then looked him up and down. His lips were parted, at least until he bit the bottom one.

They crashed into the house, Dean stumbling back and nearly falling to the floor. He broke away from Castiel and pulled off his leather jacket. He had no idea where this was coming from, and honestly he didn't know why he was going along with it, but he like when Cas started trying to push him around. He liked to fight, it was just who he was. Cas sort of fell against the door to shut it.

Dean was breathing heavily like he had just run a marathon. Was he really doing this? It certainly seemed like it. Cas stepped toward him and he stepped back. Cas smiled and laughed, then put his hand out and flicked it, throwing Dean into the wall. Dean finally realized why he was going along with all of this. It was exactly like one of the freakier dreams he'd had. Was this another one? Had really just fallen asleep?

He watched as Cas approached him. He tried to come away from the wall but he couldn't move on his own. The angel grabbed the back of his head and yanked it back. The kiss he gave him was rough, nothing but heat and tongue and grating teeth. As he pulled away he bit Dean's lip so hard he was sure it was bleeding.

Castiel stepped away and Dean tried to move with him, like his entire body didn't want to let him go, didn't want him to stop, but he couldn't because he was stuck. Castiel was holding him there. He had on hand on his chest like he was physically holding him, but that wasn't really necessary, Cas just enjoyed the frantic beat of his all-too human heart. The other hand was lower down, rubbing the front of his pants.

"Cas, what're you-"

"I'm just giving you what you want, Dean," He said, and Dean could feel him moving his hand up and undoing his belt. His hips were jerked forward as Cas yanked it out of the loops and dropped it to the floor. He moved his other hand from Dean's chest, because he needed both to undo his pants. Castiel got up close, kissing him again, sticking his thumbs into the waistband of his jeans and his boxers yanking them down, hard. Dean moaned into Castiel's mouth. The angel pulled away.

"I learned this from The Babysitter," He said, slowly sinking to his knees.

Dean couldn't look down, couldn't move, but he could feel was Cas was doing, felt the warm slickness of his mouth of his flesh, the strong hands that held his thighs.

"Oh…God" Forget dreaming, he was now thoroughly convinced he had died in that ghoul's den and all of this was Heaven.

Outside, high-heeled shoes made their way across the gravel driveway. The woman they were attached to, the woman from the bar, had followed them. She crossed her arms and smirked at what she was hearing. There was a shimmer in the air around her and the illusion faded. Dull brown hair was replaced with bright red, obviously dyed, her cracked nails and sallow skin were replaced with a lovely, glowing tan and expert manicure. The slutty clothes, however, remained, as did her liquid brown eyes.

There was a reason Cas hadn't been able to tell what she was. Cherry's job was to punish the wicked, and sometimes that included wayward angels. If they could sense her coming, they could run, and that wouldn't be good for business. Castiel, however, was not her only target. After all, the reason for everything the angel had done was for his Hunter. She'd accosted them as an excuse to touch them, to trace their imprint, and after a simple Enochian incantation, her work was all but done.

They were going to get everything they ever wanted and more, all Cherry had to do was sit back and watch them destroy themselves.


	19. Chapter 19

Cas appeared in the kitchen, and Sam just glanced up from the diaper bag he was packing at the table. "Hey Cas."

"Hello Sam."

"I think I've gotten almost everything together," He picked up a stuffed black kitten with big glassy blue eyes and put it in the carrier Thalia was in. Her tiny fingers kept clutching at it, making Sam smile. He zipped the bag closed and looked up at Cas, who was standing on the opposite side of the table. He slid the bag toward him. And Cas picked it up and slung the strap over his shoulder. "Food, diapers, and anything else you'd need. She gets pretty restless at night, Dean knows how to calm her down."

Castiel nodded and grabbed the handle of the carrier. "That straps right into any seat belt lock, in case you guys need to go somewhere."

"I will keep a close watch on your daughter, Sam. Do not worry." He picked the carrier up and Thalia made a little gurgling sound like she was trying to laugh. Sam let out a sigh. "I know, Cas, it's just…separation anxiety, you know?"

"Enjoy your night with Seraphiel, Sam." He said, and then vanished. Sam cleared his throat and shook himself, telling himself that they weren't on a job, she'd be perfectly safe and fine. No one was going to take her, no one could track them, he had about eighteen hours alone with the love of his life, who was currently upstairs in their bedroom. He ran his hand through his hair and headed upstairs.

He opened the door and Sera was standing there in her black and green corset top and black petticoat skirt, one leg propped up on the bed as she was snapping the clips from a garter into place on one of her delicate stockings. She looked like she was going to a concert. She'd added a few accessories, like a set of spiked bracelets and a matching dog collar, and she had neon green clip-in extensions in her hair.

"Uh…what's with the outfit? I mean, not that I don't like it, it's just…"

"I loved it in the store but I've never been able to use it. We never had an opportunity to while we were working, and I just thought why not?"

He looked her up and down. "It makes you look like a teenage girl sneaking out to go to a rave."

She smiled and stepped forward, reaching up to the top buttons of his plaid shirt and undoing them slowly, working her way down. "Well, I did run away from home…and I'm down here, with you, breaking pretty much every rule the garrisons have ever implemented." She looked up at him out of the top of her eyes. "I'm a really bad girl, Sam, and I need you to punish me." She slipped her hands into his open shirt and slid them across his chest, pushing it off his shoulders. "To pacify my guilty conscience."

"Well, I'm normally not into punishing people…" He leaned down and planted a kiss on her, "But if you deserve it…I suppose I can make an exception."

Dean held Thalia in his arms as she sucked on a baby bottle full of warmed breast milk. He looked up and realized Cas was watching him. "What?"

"Just thinking."

Dean snorted. "About?"

"What a good father would have made." Castiel sighed. "You deserve to have a family, Dean." He said, slightly sad. Dean could tell he was in one of those moods where he resented everything about the Universe that kept Dean from having what he thought he deserved.

"I do have a family, Cas." He said, looking down at the child in his arms. "Don't I Tally? I have the best family in the world."

"She cannot answer you."

"I know that, Cas. But it's important for language development to speak to babies like they're adults and can understand you. It helps build their vocabulary." Dean's brows furrowed and he looked up. "The hell did that come from?" He said, laughing slightly.

Cas leaned against the counter, like he always saw Dean do, then looked down at his feet. "Dean we need to talk."

"If this is going to be any tochy-feely crap we really don't need to."

"It's not about that. I have noticed something rather strange."

The thought flashed through Dean's head that nothing could be stranger than what they did in the Impala two nights before, but he didn't say it. "What's up."

"Have you noticed that we have been getting everything we wanted lately?"

"Umm…not really."

"It's just…you said you wanted a ghost case, or a witch, and then our next three cases were two ghosts and then a witch. You were really angry about the food in that diner and said you didn't want to pay for it, and then that fire started in the kitchen and we left before you had to pay. Then there was that girl in Denver…"

"I thought we weren't going to talk about her?"

"The point is everything, down to the last detail, has been exactly how one of us has asked for it. Doesn't that seem strange to you?"

Dean took a second to think about it, and realized Cas was right. Anything he said out loud, and a lot of stuff he only thought about, happened. Anything and everything he wanted. He probably hadn't noticed because never really had asked for much out of anything, especially after spending time in Hell. Most of the time he was just grateful to be out.

"Aw hell. Someone's marked us, haven't they? Some demon or angel or Trickster decided to mess with us?"

"No, Dean. If they wanted to play us it would have been more obvious. I have an idea of who it might be but to be sure, I would have to look at your soul, to see if it has been marked."

"Oh, fun times." He said sarcastically. He looked down at his niece. "Well, Tally, I hope I can get you to sleep soon, because I definitely do not want you to see this."

Dean wished he would pass out from the pain that lingered in every part of his body, especially the spot just below his sternum where Cas had reached in. He was biting down on the belt and gripping Cas's arms for dear life. Cas put his palm flat on Dean's chest. "I could make you sleep, until the pain goes away."

Dean shook his head and forced out a muffled "No." Cas pushed him back slightly so he could rest against the back of the chair. He reached up and removed the belt, his belt, from between Dean's teeth. "Just breathe, Dean, it will fade."

The hunter took several deep breaths, and with each exhalation the feeling faded. He blinked and looked up at his angel when he could think clearly. "So?"

"There is a fresh mark on your soul, Dean. Probably on mine, as well. We have been targeted."

"By who?" He asked, letting go of the angel to rub his chest.

"By Cheriour."

Dean's eyes got wide. "Cherry? But…when…how did she even find us?"

"She might have planted signs we would follow to lead us into her path, all she would have to do is touch us. Most likely something we wouldn't notice. Someone bumping into us on the street or in a bar…she can disguise herself and mask all signs of her power, so it could have been anyone."

Dean took a second, trying to think back to the moment when things started to go right. "There was that woman, in the bar the night that we uh…"

"Consummated?"

"Yeah. She touched both of us, and she was kind of obvious about everything she did, like she was trying too hard. Five seconds later you just gave me this look…and then everything just started falling into place."

"That must have been her. Remembering what she looked like won't do any good, she can glamour herself to look like whatever she thinks will get the job done."

"Shouldn't she be getting a little more…I don't know…hands on?"

"She doesn't need to. Once she marks us we start getting everything we want, within limits. It's always perfect at first and then slowly but surely everything falls apart until her victims lead themselves into their own punishment."

He looked over at Thalia, sleeping in her carrier. "If we're marked for holy vengeance…is she safe here?"

"She is in no danger that we cannot handle."

"Someone could use her to get to us, Cas."

"They would have to get to her first, and I will not let that happen."

Dean looked at the angel. His stance and the look on his face was defensive, protective of his charge, and downright fierce. If it had been directed at him he would probably turn and run, but seeing it for the sake of their common descendant, he had probably never been more turned on in his life.

"You have no idea how long I've wanted to do this," Sera said, pacing around Sam as he sat shirtless and handcuffed to one of the kitchen chairs.

"I'm still not sure about this, Sera," he said, fidgeting, "and are the handcuffs really necessary?"

"Just wanted to make sure you couldn't chicken out and run away." She said, stopping behind him, taking a lock of hair in her hand and running it through her fingers. She bent down and kissed his shoulder and neck, then reached over to the table and picked up a pair of scissors. Sam squeezed his eyes shut. "Just make it quick."

Sera smiled, picking up a comb, sectioning off a section, pulling her fingers through to mark the length, and then snipped his hair. Sam flinched at the sound the scissors made slicing through his hair and then clicking together. He did it the next four times, too.


	20. Chapter 20

Sera sat on the bathroom counter facing Sam, an old-school straight razor in hand.

"I look like a kid now,"

"Sam, hold still, I don't want to cut you." She slowly shaved off half of one of his sideburns.

"I still don't see what the big deal is."

"Sam, they were eating your face. I gave you another option, and you didn't want to grow a beard."

"I know but still…" She grabbed his face and held him still as she ran the razor down the other side. He reached up and twiddled with a lock of hair between his fingers. "Did you burn all of it?"

"Yeah, every strand. Made sure that no one could possibly steal any for spellwork." She picked up a hand towel and cleaned the blade, and wiped the excess shaving cream off his face. She leaned back a little to make sure she had shortened them evenly. "There, that's better."

"What, I wasn't good enough before?"

"Sam I think you're perfect no matter what, but Thalia kept pulling your hair out and your sideburns were out of control. Besides, I like this look on you."

Sam reached up and ruffled his hair. It hadn't been this short since Stanford. He looked at his watch. It was only ten past eight. He thought it was later. She put her hand over its face and lowered his hand. "Would you stop?"

"They should have called to check in by now."

"If something was wrong, I would feel it, alright? We have until sunrise before Cas brings her back. Honestly, all I can think about right now is getting into bed with you and having a nice, long sleep."

"That sounds fantastic."

"Doesn't it? Just a full eight hours of uninterrupted rest." She puts her hands up on his shoulders and rubbed them. "Well, after we tire ourselves out a little more."

Sam smiled and then leaned in and kissed her, slipping one of his arms under her legs and putting the other behind her back and lifting her up.

Cas took his phone out of his pocket, and Dean put his hand over it to stop him from dialing. "Don't, just let them have their night."

"But they should know about the danger."

"You really want to ruin Sera's Valentine's Day by telling her that her little sister's marked us?"

Castiel sighed. He actually _sighed_. "Are we going to keep this from her too?"

"She's an angel with a kid and the weight of Fate on her shoulders, she really doesn't need any extra stress. Whatever this is, we can handle it. We've gone up against worse. I say, we try to use this to our advantage."

"How?"

"It's supposed to give us whatever we want, right? Well, I want to know what Crowley's up to."

"It doesn't work that way."

"I thought that it was supposed to giv me anything I wanted?"

"Anything you want entirely for _yourself_. It has to be selfish. No matter how strong your feelings are about it, the reason you want to discover Crowley's plans is for the sake of your family, to protect them. You want it for Sam, and Sera, and most importantly to keep Thalia safe. That's why things haven't been overly obvious. You aren't selfish, it's not in you."

Dean took his hand away and looked down. "I can be selfish…"

"About the occasional pie or craving a certain kind of case or sexual favor, maybe, but not about the things that matter."

Dean glanced up and saw the sincere look on Castiel's face, and knew he was right. Cas was right about a lot of things. Thalia started to make some noise and They both looked towards her. Cas was the one to walk over, because he beat Dean to it. Dean couldn't help but smile as Cas picked her up and tried to figure out what she needed.

Cherry had been circling and pacing around the motel for hours. She knew the child was within, and she wanted it, but she couldn't touch it. She couldn't even get close enough to the building. Doubtless Seraphiel had taught them all sorts of tricks to keep her away, and she would be the one to know.

She looked through the large front window with the open curtains, watching her brother coddle the infant. It just wasn't fair, any of it. Nearly her entire garrison had perished due to Castiel. All of the Archangels were dead, there was no one with command power left to run things. The angels were all wayward, listless, hopeless. They couldn't even summon the strength to fight anymore, especially without someone around who ordered them that they should. Only the few angels that were like Cherry were getting anything done anymore, relishing in the fact that now there was no one who could tell them no.

Cherry was an opportunist, it was how she had always been able to stay on top of some of the craftiest fugitives. She was going to rule Heaven, take charge of the angels that were left. Forget raising Lucifer again or any of that mess, with the Winchesters being at the center of that puzzle it would never be completed. No, they would make their own Apocalypse. They'd turn the Earth into a smoldering playground. Every single one of them deserved punishment, and Cherry didn't have the patience, nor did she want to take the chance, of them being sent to Hell.

All that suffering in Heaven because of one rebellious little footsoldier and two worthless humans, but here they were. Castiel and his Hunter, caring for a child that in the old days would have been put to Death. Cherry didn't want to live in a Universe where Castiel was allowed to get away with what he had done, so she was going to change it. All she needed was that child. It was the ultimate threat to her plan. The sooner she got a hold of it, the better.

Castiel looked up and out the window, as if he sensed something there, but saw nothing. Cheriour had thrown a glamour over herself to be completely invisible. Still, she saw his mouth move, and then Dean turned toward the window. He took a few steps forward and pulled the curtains closed.

Cherry smiled to herself. It didn't really matter whether they knew she was coming, there was no way to break her enchantment once it was placed, even if they killed her. No matter what they tried to do, they were going to pay.

Meg looked around the house, or rather, the mansion. She couldn't believe Crowley, always having to have such sweet digs up on Earth when he should be down in Hell doing his job. She did have to admit he had amazing taste, though. She followed the only sound she heard, the sound of hard leather soles against hardwood and the rustling of clothing, the quiet clinking of glass, and soon enough found Crowley in what she supposed was a study, setting down a decanter full of some brown liquor, probably scotch. He lifted his glass and turned to face her.

"You summoned me, boss?" She said, trying to be all sugary.

"Don't do that, I'd prefer it if you cursed at me than play Miss Perfect Servant."

"That's exactly why I keep doing it. Did you want me for something in particular?"

"I need you to fetch someone for me. Someone I made a deal with not too long ago. He's trying to get out of it, stole something from me."

"Can I get a name?"

"Oh, a name won't do you any good, he keeps changing it." Crowley walked over to the desk and picked up a manila folder, then turned on his heel and stepped toward her, handing it over. "That's everything I have on him, but I think he's got a hex bag on him or something, I can't track him down."

"And you thought I would be able to…why?"

"You have valuable skill, Meg. Now that I have you, I'm going to utilize them. If you bring him to me, I'll let you torture him until he gives up the goods."

Meg smiled, "I'll do my best, boss."

"Do better. You know how I feel about people that steal and lie to me."

"You are aware that your soldiers are all demons?"

"Very aware. Doesn't mean I will tolerate them lying to me."

Meg smiled and opened the folder. "Good thing you don't have to worry about that from me." She said, then shut the folder. "I'll bring him to you as soon as I find him."

"Make sure you bring him to the basement, I don't want him messing up the place."

"Will do." She gave a sarcastic salute and vanished. Crowley took out his phone. "You got her?"

"Yeah," said the voice on the other line. "She's not going to go anywhere without my eyes on her."

"Good. Find out what she's been hiding."


	21. Chapter 21

Castiel appeared in the kitchen, where Sera was leaning against the counter, sipping on a cup of coffee that was mostly milk and sugar. "Hey," She said, a big smile on her face. "There's my baby." Cas set the carrier on the table. "Have any problems?"

"She kept waking Dean up, but other than that she was no trouble." Sera stepped over and set her coffee down, then reached in and picked up her daughter, wrapped up in the Winchester blanket. "How's my little angel?"

She looked at Cas, scanning him up and down. "Something's changed in you since the last time we saw each other. You're standing different, your posture's changed. There's a weird look in your eyes…" She shook it off. "Then again, I haven't seen you since you've left…it's probably just from the night you guys spent with that chick…and the kiss." Cas glanced away, and she got curious.

"Has there been more since then?" She asked, trying not to sound too excited. Cas purposefully avoided her eyes when she tried to catch his gaze. "Did Dean tell you not to talk about it?"

"Yes. He says anything we do is not anyone else's business."

"Well, he's right about that." She looked around to make sure that Sam wasn't close enough to listen. "Come on, sit down, have some coffee, we'll talk."

"But I'm not supposed to…"

"Cas, really? This is me. You need to talk to someone and if it's not me then who?"

Castiel considered this, and then stepped over to the counter and took a coffee mug from the cabinet. Sera angled one of the chairs and sat in it, setting her child on her lap and holding her with one hand, picking up her coffee with the other and taking a drink. Castiel sat down, clutching the cup in his hands and taking a drink. Sera smiled because he looked like a four year old who hadn't quite learned the mechanics of drinking on his own yet.

"So, after I talked to you last…what happened?"

"We talked, and I kissed him…more to prove that I could than anything else."

"And?"

"We talked more, and then we went out."

"Out as in out out? Like a date?"

"We went to a bar and played pool. I was accosted by a woman and Dean pulled her off of me…and then we went back to the house we were staying in."

"And then?" She asked, taking another sip.

"I…worshipped him with my mouth."

Sera nearly choked on her coffee, it took everything in her not to spit it out. She set the cup down and covered her mouth, coughing.

"Are you all right?" Cas asked.

"Yeah, fine," she forced out before coughing again. She looked down at her daughter, who was looking at her with big hazel eyes like she had gone mad. "It was just…your word choice…it made me laugh, which is not a good thing to do when you're drinking."

She adjusted the infant then looked back up at Cas. "So, what else?"

"Since then we have copulated seven times, usually in whatever motel we are in but twice in the Impala and once in a graveyard."

"A graveyard?"

"We were fighting a ghost…I kept shooting rock salt at it while Dean broke the coffin open to salt and burn it…apparently he likes me using firearms more than I previously realized."

"Apparently." She decided to get a drink in before she asked anything else. "Has anything else changed between the two of you?"

"No. He insists on acting like it has not happened at all. He has even gone home with women he has met when I was not with him."

"Yeah well, Dean's not really programmed to be monogamous. You had to see that one coming."

"At least now he does not run away from me."

"That's an improvement."

"The only acknowledgement he has given it is continuous joking complaints about his injuries."

"Injuries?"

"Bruises, bite marks, cuts from my fingernails, scraped knees…"

Sera put up a hand and he stopped. "I get it, Cas, you don't have to keep going."

"He refuses to let me heal them until they begin to interfere with his movements…"

"Yeah, dude's been through hell, he likes it rough." She snorted and adjusted the child in her lap. "Man you are giving me such good material right now and I'll probably never get to use it unless I can get him to own up to it. I'll get him to eventually though, and then it's open season."

"Why…never mind." Castiel said, as if knowing he was never going to fully understand Sera's need to insult Dean. There was the sound of heavy footsteps coming down the stairs. When Sam started to come in Sera changed the subject. "So, you're hunting ghosts now?"

"Yes. I have become quite skilled at it. I still do not understand why Dean insists on being the one to dig the graves, though. I have better stamina and greater strength…"

"I think he likes burning them." Sam said, grabbing himself a coffee mug from the cabinet. "It's just this whole sort of…ritual he would do when we would salt and burn…plus digging graves is the closest he ever gets to proper exercise."

Sam drank down some of his coffee, then set the cup on the counter. He stepped over to Sera and pecked her on the lips, then reached down to take Thalia from her. He cradled his daughter in his arms. "Hey there, Tally. I missed you. Did you miss your Daddy?" Thalia made a noise and reached up towards her father's face, opening and closing her hands like she was trying to grab him.

Castiel looked up at Sam. "You cut your hair."

"Well, actually Sera did, but yeah."

"You appear to be younger."

Sam glared at Sera. "I told you."

"I didn't disagree, I just said you should stop complaining about it."

Castiel finished off what was in his coffee cup and then stood. "I should return."

Sera stood up and hugged him tight, like Sam always hugged Dean. "We'll miss you, Cas," she whispered before stepping away. Cas nodded at her, then vanished.

"So…" Sam said as Sera picked up her coffee cup and took a drink.

"So?"

"What's going on with them?"

"The usual stuff. Ghosts and witches and creepy monsters."

"I meant on the personal level and you know it."

"Nothing to report."

"Oh, Come on, there has to be something. There always is."

"Not this time."

"The more you deny something is going on, the stranger by presumptions become."

"I suggest you stop trying to guess at it now. Right now, and if you don't I'll make you stop."

"I like it when you get forceful."

"Why don't you put Tally in her playpen? It looks like she's been pampered all night so I think she's good for a while."

Sam looked at his daughter like he didn't want to put her down.

"Sam…"

"Yeah, yeah, I'm going."

Cas appeared in the motel room, where Dean was just starting to wake up. He was sitting on the edge of the bed, ruffling his hair and yawning. "Mornin'" He said sleepily.

"Good morning, Dean."

"Tally back home?"

"Yes, I returned her. Sera and Sam seem very happy. She cut his hair."

"Really?"

"Yes, and his sideburns have shortened considerably."

"Well, good on her. His hair's been out of control forever."

"He looks much younger. Like he did at Stanford."

"Bet she's enjoying that." Dean rubbed his eyes then looked up at Cas, then stood. "Well, I'm gonna go brush my teeth and find a shirt…"

"I don't think you should bother getting dressed."

There was a pause, like Dean didn't quite catch what he was saying. "What?"

"We have this room until noon."

Dean's eyes widened. "Oh, right…okay then." He said, forcing himself up. He gestured toward the bathroom. "I'll just uh…be a human minute." Dean walked past the angel.

"Take as much time as you need," He said, eyes all over Dean's back and how the sweatpants he wore to sleep in hugged his thick thighs and backside until he shut the bathroom door.


	22. Chapter 22

When Dean came out of the bathroom, Castiel was sitting on the bed, leaning on his knees. He wondered why he had kept his clothes on but then remembered that Cas knew exactly how much he liked taking them off. He walked over and stepped in between Cas's legs as Cas straightened in perfect synchronization. Dean pushed the coat off of him, leaning down and in to kiss his angel while flattening it on the bed behind him. Cas opened his lips and Dean slid his tongue in, caressing the inside of Cas's mouth.

No matter what else they did, to Dean this was the most intimate action. He'd had all kinds of kisses in the past, sure, and some would argue that the sex was more personal, but no. When it was just them, locked inside each other's mouths with that slow, languorous sugary sweetness, Dean didn't think he would be happier or feel closer to anyone. Sex meant nothing to him. He'd done it with scores of women he had no feeling for, but this was feeling. This was physical poetry they were writing with their lips. This was love.

He wrapped his hand in Castiel's tie and used it to pull him tighter. The kisses became more urgent, brutal. Piece by piece they were becoming violent. Dean pulled away and continued to undress him. He just loosened the tie enough to get his white shirt off. He unbuttoned it all of the way down, then took a cuff in each hand and popped them open with his thumbs. He was getting good at that.

After he got it off he took Cas's face in his hands and tilted it up, looking down into his perfectly blue eyes. Dean never in a million years thought he would be in this moment until it happened. He knelt down, running his fingers softly down Castiel's neck, chest, abdomen, to his pants, leaning in and planting kisses on his skin as he undid his belt and pulled it slowly from he loops. He smiled into it as Cas let out a pleasured sigh.

Dean's hands made their way down Castiel's legs, pulling off his shoes. He grinned up at the angel as he gripped the fabric tight and pulled his pants as he stood in a smooth motion. He tossed them over his shoulder then placed his hands on the angel's shoulders, pushing him back. Castiel scooted backwards and Dean followed, propping himself up on his knees on the bed, forcing Cas to spread his legs. He supported himself completely on the bed, arched over Castiel's body, looking him up and down like he was the most beautiful thing in the world.

He grabbed his tie and used it to pull him up, kissing him again while he felt Castiel's hands slide down his back. He loved the feel of them on his skin, the almost worshipful way Cas touched him, like he would break at any moment. Cas pulled his sweatpants down and Dean kicked them away onto the floor.

"Keep your eyes open, Cas." He said, as the angel's tried to flutter closed. "I want you to see me."

Cherry sat on the hood of the Impala, looking at the door of Dean and Cas's motel room. She was invisible, but if someone had seen her they probably would have assumed she was up to no good, as she had that look and exuded that vibe. Her kool-aid dyed hair, her black, expertly manicured fingernails, and her sharp features just gave her the look of one that was asking for trouble. She was glaring at the door, wondering why things hadn't started to go bad for them by now. They should have, but they hadn't.

The avenging angel had never considered her targets, and how selfless they truly were. If they ever wanted anything except each other, it was for the sake of someone else. Cas always wanted things for Dean, Dean always wanted things for his family, there were very few things they wanted for themselves, and when they did it was little things, nothing that could be twisted to hurt them. Cherry really should have thought things through before marking them.

She slid down the hood of the car, landing on her feet and stepping towards the door. Cheriour was suddenly inside the room with a thought, watching Dean plow into Castiel, her arms crossed and her lips pursed in frustration. Was this really all they wanted? To be together in every sense of the word? If that was the case, she was going to have to get creative.


	23. Chapter 23

Dean collapsed against the mattress, breathing deep the scent of sweat and sex that thickened the air around them. He kind of craved a cigarette, and he didn't even smoke. He looked over at Castiel, who was looking up at the ceiling, breathing just as hard. He slipped his hand into Cas's, intertwining their fingers. He wanted to say something, but couldn't think of anything that didn't sound girly or so stupid it would cheapen the moment, so they just lay there, breathing. Dean's green eyes were locked on Castiel's face, watching his lids flutter shut and his lips part in a sigh.

Dean's free hand rested on his abdomen, which he realized was soaked with sweat and…other things. He sat up and scooted to the end of the bed, Cas's eyes popped open when he let go of his hand and the bed jostled. The angel propped himself up on his elbows, looking at how every muscle in his back and shoulders tensed and twitched beneath his skin. Cas sat up completely and placed is hand on Dean's shoulder blade, and his whole body instantly eased. Every thought, worry or care that plagued him was forgotten with that simple touch.

Dean looked over his shoulder. "I'm gonna shower. Want to join me?"

"Is it necessary?"

"Not for you, but I think you'll like it."

Dean stood up, reaching his hand back to take Cas's and pulling him up off the bed as he walked toward the bathroom.

Dean turned the water on, putting his hand under the running water to check the temperature, then turning around to face Cas. Those big blue eyes truly saw him, right down to his soul, and they loved him, he could see it. The feelings were tangible in the air between them. Castiel tilted his head at dean, and the hunter wondered how he managed to pull off that childlike innocent look despite all that they had done.

He checked the water temp again then pulled the curtain fully open, gesturing for Castiel to walk in before him. The angel stepped in, directly under the stream of water. Dean grabbed a washrag from the stack on the counter and stepped in after him, closing the curtain. He picked up a bar of soap he had already unwrapped and began to lather up the rag.

"This feels nice…"

"Don't you have any memories of things like this? I mean, sometimes I wonder why you don't know or understand things because I'm sure Jimmy did…"

"I could have drawn on those memories before, but not now."

"Why not?" He asked, beginning to wash the Angel's body with the soapy rag.

"When Seraphiel brought me back, this form became entirely mine. It is no longer a vessel, I am bound to it. Jimmy is no longer within it."

Dean paused. "So where is he?"

"I assume he is in Heaven, but I cannot check. I tell myself that because I believe he has earned it."

"More than most," he said, running the rag around the back of Cas's neck. The angel smiled and bowed his head, "That's so soft…it tickles." The little white rivulets ran down his skin, and Dean's eyes followed their path. He swallowed, hard. He put his hands on Castiel's shoulders and turned him around, washing his back. Cas tilted his head back, letting the water cascade over his face and hair.

Dean slid the rag back up to Cas's shoulder and ran it down his arm. He inched forward and wrapped his free hand around Cas's waist, then leaned in and put his lips to the angel's ear, closing his eyes from the force of the water. "I don't think I've ever enjoyed just being with someone this much."

"I thought we weren't allowed to talk about it. You said you didn't want to get girly."

"This is not me getting girly. This is just me admitting that there's nothing I regret about being with you." He traced his fingers down the angel's arm. Castiel turned and took the rag from him, looking at it curiously. He put it to Dean's skin imitated the actions he had executed moments before. Dean spread his arms and let the angel attempt to wash him. Castiel always marveled at Dean's body, simply because of it's contradictions. Dean was strong, he knew, for a human, at least. When he was tense, ready to fight, every muscle in his body could be seen. Then he was hard, and coarse, ready to spring into action. Moment's like this, however, when he was totally and completely relaxed, at ease, safe, he was soft. It was like watching a transformation from a fierce Tiger to a stuffed kitten, and it was beautiful.

Cas felt Dean grab his wrist and realized he had frozen in the middle of an action, just standing there staring at him. "You okay Cas?"

The angel blinked then looked up into the hunter's eyes. His expression seemed like he was trying to count the colors in them, or the freckles on his face, but the word that came out of his mouth were entirely different. "I find that I wish to have you again," he said, in that entirely flat tone of voice. Dean blinked, taking a moment to register what he had said. "Okay…"

Cas grabbed him and pulled him in, planting a rough, biting kiss upon his lips. Whenever Dean dominated he was always slow, gentle, caring, worshipful. He treated the angel's body like a holy relic. Castiel, on the other hand, was always rough. Not intentionally, it was mostly because he was so much stronger and unless he made the conscious effort to be careful every single touch could bruise. It was hard to think about things like that when he was concentrated on Dean.

Plus, he only ever did what Dean responded to, and Dean loved the brutality. He never did anything half way and if he was going to be taken, it was going to be hard and fast and painful. A blissful punishment. He wanted half his body to be numb from pleasure and the other half to be sore and aching from bruises and bites and anything else Cas could throw at him.

The angel turned him round and shoved him up against the shower wall, his hands sliding across the slick, wet skin of his arms as her forced them up above his head, lacing their fingers together and squeezing them tight. Cas forced his legs apart and Dean bit his lip, muffling a moan as Castiel claimed him. His entire body felt like it was being crushed, from Castiel's strong grip on his hands to the hard thrusting against his hips. It hurt, it stung, he could barely breathe, and he loved every second of it.

Cherry sat on the bathroom counter, listening to the noises and watching the shadows. She was plotting, trying to figure how them having a physical relationship could mess up their lives. It hadn't interfered with a case yet, but that didn't mean it couldn't, and with Hunters it only took a second's hesitation, a single slip up to cost them their lives. The average hunter had a very short life span on his own, and if Dean hadn't been special he would be dead already, as would Sam, so many times over. She rolled her eyes and sighed. If she wanted to make this happen she was going to have to get her hands dirty.

She crossed her legs, listening to their grunts and the slapping together of wet skin, Dean's begging for brutality and the breathy way he said the angel's name. Cherry thought it was blasphemy. She wondered why any angel would give up the Divine Light for a lowly human and defile the purity of their kind by procreating and releasing those mutated monstrous children upon the world. The Holy Name of an Angel should not be thrown from the tongue in passion in such ways. At least she knew this Union would not result in any Nephilim. It was bad enough there was one.

She missed the old days, back when she had complete authority over the Nephilim children. She'd take the good ones to raise and kill the monsters, not caring at all if they were infants, and no matter what the circumstance the human responsible was to be put to death. There were too many restrictions now.

"Cas…" She heard Dean say, followed by a very intense moan.

"I always come when you call, Dean." Cherry nearly gagged when she heard Castiel speak those words and Dean's raspy laugh that followed. This whole thing was making her sick.


	24. Chapter 24

Castiel was driving, just driving, out on his own. Dean was with a single mom whose child they had saved, being "thanked." He had insisted on taking the car. He had discovered recently, while driving as Dean slept, that while it was slow and confining it did give one the opportunity to think things over. He needed that tonight.

He found a place, some piece of property outside of town, no house to be seen. He pulled over, parking the Impala on the four foot wide stretch of grass between the road and the barbed wire fence. He looked up, the moon was all but full, casting a silver light over everything and giving it an ethereal glow. He looked down at the grass, over at the black asphalt of the road he had just been driving on. Strange how this whole effect could be produced by nothing more than a cosmic mirror.

He felt a stir in the air and smelled smoke and brimstone. A voice spoke behind him. "Nice night, isn't it?"

He didn't turn to her, simply looked back up at the sky. "I have seen worse."

She laughed, he could hear her footsteps on the gravel as she approached and sat next to him on the hood of the Impala. He couldn't help but covertly glance over at the demon, her dark hair a curtain hiding her face from him. He looked away and sighed. "Why are you here?"

"Well, I was going to stop in on both of you at once, so I went to the last place I'd tracked you and just found Dean. Well, him and some chick. I noticed the car was gone so I tracked it to you."

"That still doesn't answer why."

"Crowley had me track some guy down that stole something from him, trying to get leverage to get out of a deal, you know. I tortured the guy myself to get it out of him and I went and fetched it. It was some kind of amulet, but I don't know what it was for. All I know is that he was happy to have it back. Also, when I was working on the guy he let slip that it didn't belong to Crowley anyway, that Crowley had nabbed it from someone else. I think whatever it is, he's planning on using it to get a hold of your precious niece."

"Why should I believe you?" Cas said, getting off the car and fully turning to face her. She lifted her head, flipping her hair out of her face. "What reason would I have to lie to you?"

"You're a demon, Meg. That's not even your real name, just one you stole from some poor girl you possessed."

"Prudence."

"What?"

"That was my name, when I was alive." She looked down and kicked some gravel. "When I was human…Prudence."

"Even I know that's ironic."

"Isn't it? But that was my name. It was a common one in the Colonies, when everyone named their children after Saints and Virtues. Never really meant much to me." She lifted her head again. "You'll believe me because you know how much I hate Crowley, and I have nothing to lose. I have only two options now: The Ultimate Death or Redemption. To get either, I'll need the help of all of the Winchesters, including you and that song bird."

"I am not a Winchester. I am an Angel."

"An angel who can't even go home to Heaven anymore, an angel bound to physical form. They have taken you in, Cas. You are one of them; they're your family now. Even I know that."

Castiel sort of rolled his eyes, then moved back to his place next to her, sitting on the car looking up at the sky. "This redemption that you seek, how exactly do you think I could help?"

Meg looked over at him like he was an idiot. "You know exactly what I am speaking of, Castiel."

He lowered his eyes, looking straight out into the night, thinking over what she could be suggesting. "That is a myth."

"Do you know that for certain?"

He crossed his arms, biting his lip in thought. He sighed. "I must admit there is nothing I can truly know for certain any more."

"Exactly. You could very well be the one that could save me, Castiel."

"Why me? Why not Sera? She likes you."

"Not that much. Besides, I think Sam would probably kill me before we were done. He wouldn't look too kindly on his wife performing such a favor for someone who has tried on multiple occasions to kill him."

"I see your point." He leaned back on his arms and Meg put her hand over his. He didn't take it away, but he wasn't sure how he felt about it being there. Her hands were warm, like her entire being was warmed by the fires of Hell that she carried with her. He looked at them, then his eyes trailed up her arm to her face.

"I have a curse on me, Meg."

"Really? What has enough juice to curse an angel?"  
>"Another angel. An avenging angel."<p>

"What's the curse?"

"That I get everything I ask for."

Meg raised her eyebrows then looked him up and down, "Really? How's that working out for you?"

"I can only assume it is not going the way it was planned."

"Does it ever?"

Cas glanced over at her. "I suppose not. Dean has been marked as well. All either of us want is for everyone to be safe."

"And, I'm assuming, each other."

Castiel's brows furrowed, then he remembered she could hear everything they said or did in the car and they relaxed. "It's perfectly understandable. I'd want to jump on that, too." Meg said, and then Cas was confused again.

"Which one?"

"Either of you, or both of you. You're both gorgeous. You have that whole quality about you," She took her hand away from his to gesture around his face, "That makes a person want to rape the innocence out of you, and Dean has that whole tortured bad-boy thing going for him. It's amazing to me that you guys both aren't just getting accosted all of the time."

"That has become somewhat of a problem."

"Thought it would." She took her finger and started tracing up and down his arm. "Anyone who kisses like you could have their pick of anyone they wanted, even without some stupid curse." She traced over his ear and ran her hand into his hair, he naturally moved into it, not even thinking about the implications of such an action. She gripped it and turned his face toward her.

"If you could, would you save me? Do you think I deserve it?"

"Everyone deserves a chance at Redemption." Castiel knew that feeling better than anyone. The feeling of being wrong, hurt, lost, and at one point downright evil. He decided that yes, if he could, he would grant Meg what she needed.

"Willing to seal it?" She asked, her lips parted, closing in on him, biting at him in that sort of teasing way. If it was going to be valid, he had to be the initiator.

"If that is what you require." Castiel said, and he grabbed her, pulling her in and planting a hard kiss on her mouth. It was devoid of passion, empty of feeling, but it served its purpose. When he tried to pull away, though, Meg kept it going, her hand drifting slowly down his chest, pulling his shirt out of his pants. He pushed her off of him, hard, flipping her and slamming her shoulders down into the Impala. He pulled the Demon Knife from his belt and leaned down, pressing it to her throat. He was between her legs, holding her down and leaning over her. She was laughing.

"Do it, fly boy." She snapped, arching her neck up into the blade. "Kill me. I want you to; I want it to be you."

"I'm not going to kill you, Meg."

"What then? Little bit of torture?"

"I want you gone."

Meg laughed then grabbed his hips and jammed them against her. "That's not the impression I'm getting."

"Well, it's true. It's what I want, and if I want it, it has to happen."

He backed off of her and Meg sat up, wiping her neck where she had been scratched, licking the blood off her fingers. She looked around. "I haven't gone anywhere. Looks like you're not wishing hard enough."

"I do not want you here."

"But you don't want me gone either." She pulled her feet up and set them on the bumper. "Because I'm perfect payback."

"What?"

"You may not consciously realize it, but you're mad. You hate it when Dean chooses random hussies and damsels in distress and once even your own sister over you, you want to get back at him, but not in such a way that he could actively hate you for. You want to make him jealous, force him to stake a claim." She reached forward and grabbed his tie, pulling him back up close to her.

"This is not wise, Meg." He said, pushing his hand into her dark curls. "We are fire and oil, you and I."

Meg smiled, looking up into his incredibly beautiful blue eyes. She closed her eyes and when she opened them they were completely black. "So burn me."


	25. Chapter 25

Dean was sitting on the end of the bed in the motel room, putting on his watch and then pulling his amulets from beneath his shirt. He ruffled his hair and went over to the fridge, taking a beer out and cracking it open. Lights flashed through the window and he heard the hum of an engine, an engine he knew. He looked through the curtain and saw his Baby. The lights turned off and Cas emerged from the car, Dean turned away, letting the curtain fall so Cas wouldn't see that he was waiting for him. He pretended to be really involved with the drinking of his beer as Cas walked in.

"Hey," Dean said, looking him up and down. "Have fun driving?"

"It was quite relaxing, yes." He took the trench coat off and threw it onto the bed that was still made up. Dean noticed his clothes were all rumpled and his hair was sticking out in places.

"Yeah? Go anywhere fun?"

"Not particularly." He walked over to the fridge and opened it, taking out a beer. "Where'd your girl go?" He asked Dean as he cracked the bottle open.

"Left about twenty minutes ago. Wanted to get home before her kid woke up for school." He breathed in and tilted his head at the angel. "Why do you smell like barbecue?"

Castiel's eyebrows went up. "Excuse me?"

"You smell like spiced smoke. What, did you go raid some 24-hour place? Is there going to be a story on the news tomorrow about how you broke some record eating pulled pork sandwiches?"

"No." Was all he responded with. He set the bottle on the table then stuck his hands in his pockets absent-mindedly, he looked confused for a second then took his hands back out. In one there was a pack of some of those expensive organic cigarettes and in the other hand he had a few pieces of gravel. He looked curiously at the pebbles, thoroughly confused as to how they got there. He set them on the table, then opened the pack of cigarettes and took one out. He placed it between his lips and put the pack back in his pocket, then stepped towards jean and reached into his jeans, where he always kept his lighter.

"Since when do you smoke?" Dean asked as he watched Castiel light up. The angel took a drag, flicking the lighter shut and sticking it back in Dean's pocket. He breathed the smoke straight into Dean's face. "Since about an hour ago."

Dean waved it away. He squinted at Cas, looking at his eyes. His pupils were so dilated his irises were almost completely black, and they were bloodshot.

"What happened to you?"

"Why do you care?" He said, with a bit of attitude. It was not the way he was used to Cas speaking.

"No, seriously dude, what's up? Your eyes are all jacked, you smell like you're on fire, you look like you've either been in a fight or had really rough sex and now you're talking like…like…I don't even know."

"Does it really matter? All that matters is I'm here, right? That I do what you ask of me, come when you need me? Service your body whenever you ask…"

Dean grabbed his shoulders, "Cas, don't say that, you know that's not everything. Now, seriously, where did you go? What happened?"

Cas just took another drag and shrugged him off. He exhaled with an exasperated sigh, producing another cloud of smoke. "Just…just don't, Dean."

"Don't what?"

"Act like you care." He crushed the cigarette out in his palm then started walking over to the made-up bed. He pulled off his suit jacket and his belt, and then crashed onto it, bunching a pillow up under his head like he had seen Sam do before. This puzzled Dean. Normally, angels don't sleep, or even try. He went over to his leather jacket and took his phone out of the pocket, dialing Sera as he walked outside.

He clicked the door shut as she answered.

"Hello?"

"Sera…something's wrong with Cas."

"What? What's the matter?"

"I don't know. He left for a while, then when he came back he smelled like barbecue and he's smoking and talking weird and his eyes are all screwed up and I…just don't know what the hell I'm supposed to be doing."

He heard Sera sigh, "What day is it?"

"Wednesday."

"No, I mean the date."

Dean told her, and he could hear her mumbling in that way she did when she was thinking out loud. "It'll wear off."

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah, in like, two days tops."

"Am I supposed to do something?"

"Just make sure he doesn't kill anyone."

"What happened?"

"I'm sorry, Dean, but he has to tell you that."

"I really hate it when you say stuff like that, because I know that you know and you're keeping something from me."

"I do nothing but keep things from you."

Dean sighed and rubbed the back of his head. "Well at least now I know he's not dying."

"Yeah, just let him burn it out. He'll probably be moody for a bit."

"Alright. Thanks."

"Love you, bro."

"Love you too, sis." He turned the phone of and rolled his eyes as he turned back toward the door, opening the door. After stepping in, he took a second to observe Cas's clothes. His pants and suit jacket were black, but in some places they were darker, like they were damp, and if he looked at just the right angle he saw streaks of green, the kind that came from friction against grass. He stepped over and started untying his shoes. Cas jerked up. "What are you doing?"

"If you're going to sleep, you shouldn't have your shoes on." He pulled them off, setting them next to the bed. Dean pulled the sheets out from under him to tuck him in, then turned off the lamp next to the bed and closed the blinds and curtains over the windows. Cas looked at him with his almost black eyes as he sat on the other bed, getting his own boots and sticking his feet into them to lace them up. The angel blinked then nuzzled into the pillow like a kitten, closing his eyes.

Dean couldn't help but smile at it. He was adorable when he was asleep, and it didn't happen often. He laced up his boots then walked towards the door, grabbing his jacket and pulling it on. As he stepped out he nearly ran into someone.

"Sorry…" he said, then looked at who it was. "Meg? What the hell are you doing here?"

"Nice to see you too." She reached into the pocket of her jacket and pulled out Cas's cell phone. "Here. Figured that was something he might need."

Dean took it from her and looked at it, then looked her up and down. Her clothes were all messed up and she was usually very put together, there were blades of grass in her hair, what little makeup she had on was slightly smeared. As Dean put all of this together, Meg smiled at the look of surprise and anger on his face.

"You…and Cas?" He said, gesturing from her to the door.

"What, you didn't know?" The look on his face was his answer. "I guess the after effects had him a little jumbled…"

He grabbed her shoulders and shook her. "What did you do to him?"

"Nothing he didn't ask for, Deano." She laughed. "And let me tell you…this is the best I have felt since I became a demon." She shrugged his arms off. "Everything's just so clean and…sparkly. It's like I got dipped in a glitter bath. "

Dean looked her over again. She was sort of glowy and…alive. It was like instead of a demon there was a living soul in there. He could see it behind her eyes, with his weird angel vision.

"How…what…"

"Castiel has put me on a road to true Redemption, Dean. For that I owe him everything."

"Why is he acting so weird?" He demanded, and she smiled. "You can't figure it out?"

He looked at her, and then back at the door. He glared at her, "Somehow, he's taken it out of you, at least some of it. All of that torment, the twisting damage that Hell does to a soul…he's taken it from you and into him."

"Now you're getting it! I'm proud of you." She patted him on the shoulder. "Don't worry about your boyfriend, he'll be fine in a couple days. His grace will burn it all off."

"He's not my…" he started, but Meg put a finger over his lips.

"See that? That denial right there? All of that effort you put forward you use to distance him from you? That is exactly the reason he turned to me. Keep it up and you'll lose him." She took her hand away and turned to leave, then stopped short and turned back around. "Did he have my cigs? I normally wouldn't care but those are really hard to get a hold of…"

"Yeah," Dean said. "Yeah I'll…I'll get them." He went back inside, stepping quietly over to the bed and reaching into the pocket Cas had stuffed the pack of cigarettes into, then came back out. He handed them to Meg, holding onto her hand so she would stay long enough to answer a question.

"Why do you care?"

"Because he has done me a great kindness, and I want to see him happy. Short of being able to return to Heaven, the thing that makes him happiest is you." She took the pack and then disappeared. Dean was left with a great amount of mixed feelings. He knew that what Meg had said was true, but he didn't want to follow her advice because, well…it was Meg. She'd tried to kill him and Sam multiple times, had possessed Sam once, she let loose the Hellhounds that killed Jo and led to Ellen's death as well, she had played them so much in the past he was reluctant to follow anything she said.

He didn't understand that Meg had nothing left. After seeing how beautiful everything could be, at least for the demons, and serving Lucifer so closely and then having it torn away and shown in every fashion that it would never be possible to free him again, she had lost all hope and ambition. When Crowley had finally caught up with her, she basically just turned herself in. There was no use in running. She thought that he would kill her but no, he had so many more plans.

When Crowley came to her and reminded her of the favor she owed Seraphiel, she started making plans. She only had two options left, that much was true. The complete purification and Redemption of her soul or the Ultimate Death. She could have gotten Crowley to kill her, easy, but it would be more likely he wouldn't be that kind. After everything, she had to put her faith in the Winchesters, thinking that they would be willing to get the job done. She ran into Cas first, though, and she had to admit she was curious as to what Heaven was like. She'd certainly gotten a glimpse of it.

Dean got into his car and started it up, pulling out of the parking lot to head to a diner he'd seen down the street, planning on picking up some breakfast and then bringing it back. Castiel might be hungry when he woke up. Plus, it would give him time to mull things over. He definitely needed it.


	26. Chapter 26

Sam stamped the fire out while Sera laughed.

"I'm glad you think this is funny," He said, walking back over to the blanket. Thalia was sitting up on it, leaning against Sera's crossed legs. Moments ago she had been staring really hard at the patch of grass and then burst into gurgling laughter when it caught fire.

"Yeah, I do, kind of. She's stretching her mental muscles. At least she didn't do it inside the house." She leaned down to talk right in her daughter's ear. "Because you're a smart girl, aren't you? You know better than to burn your Mommy's curtains." She kissed her child's chubby cheek.

Thalia's eyes were now exactly like her father's. They changed color constantly, though, and she had already learned how to beg with them. Sam sat back down. He'd imagined a lot of places his life would take him, most of them ended with death, but he'd never thought for a second he'd get this. He never thought he'd be happy. Granted, it was with an angel and a baby that could grow up to destroy the world but hey, no one's life was perfect.

"So I heard the phone this morning. Dean and Cas having any problems?"

"Not professional ones."

"Hm. Where are they?"

"Close enough that I think they'll be stopping by for a visit soon."

He reached out and Tally took one of his fingers in her hand. Her grip was getting stronger and tighter all of the time. "She's growing fast…"

"Yeah, faster than a normal kid. I think she's physically like, six months old."

"Which means at six months she'll be a year, and at a year she'll be two."

He leaned down to talk to her. "By the time you're seven you'll be a teenager and I'll have to start worrying about boys knocking down our door."

"Please, don't put that idea in her head sooner than it needs to be," Sera said jokingly. "She'll probably stop aging at around twenty-five, or whenever she hits complete physical maturity. By that time she'll be an expert monster hunter, won't you, Tally?"

The baby made an affirmative noise, causing Sera to chuckle. Suddenly the patch of grass burst into flames again, and Sam jumped up to go stamp it out.

Cherry watched them from the other side of the chain-link fence. She slipped her fingers through it, her head tilted to see through the gaps. There were too many wards on the place for her to get close, but she could still see.

There were moments Cherry thought that she shouldn't do this, that she shouldn't take this child from her sister, the one that had always been close with her, guided her. The one Angel in the Garrison that knew almost as much as the father about where things were heading. But then she remembered who she was. So much was left undone because of the angels that had been slaughtered. So many messes to clean up, and not only was Sera not doing anything about it, she was in the center of it all. She was helping the Winchesters and Castiel, the ones who had caused all of the trouble. No, she couldn't let this go. Vengeance was all she had left.

She saw her sister look up and towards her, but her eyes were empty of recognition. She felt her there, sure, but she could not see her, nor know for certain that she was there. She gripped the metal, crunching it. Cherry was seething, wondering how their Father could allow any of this to happen. She pulled her hand away and then turned, squeezing her eyes shut and vanishing.

Dean came back into the motel room, two to-go plates and a paper sack under his arm. He looked over at the bed as he set them down, seeing that Castiel was still in it, fast asleep. He had twisted up the covers and thrown an arm up over his head. It looked really dramatic, like an actor in a stage play who was pretending to sleep.

He stepped a little closer and noticed Cas was sweating. He leaned across the bed and put his hand to Castiel's forehead. He was burning up. Castiel's eyes opened and he grabbed Dean and flipped him, pinning him to the mattress. He blinked, realizing it was Dean, and then relaxed. Although, he didn't let him up. "Hello Dean."

"Hey Cas." He said, in a breathy and obviously frightened way. "Sleep well?"

"I dreamed. It was rather disturbing. Sleeping is strange."

"Yeah, yeah it is." He tried to look anywhere but at Cas, because he wasn't sure how he felt about him being so close right now. He was mad at him, and he wanted to stay that way for a while. Castiel's hands were pinning his shoulders down so hard he was probably going to have bruises later.

Dean reached into his pocket and took out Cas's phone, bringing it up so he could see it. "Meg dropped this off."

Cas took a hand away from Dean, taking the phone and rolling off him, sitting up and crossing his legs. He opened it to check to see if he had any messages. "So did she tell you?"

"She didn't really have to." Dean said, pushing himself up. He rubbed his shoulders. "I'm glad you're getting around but…Meg? Why her?"

"She was there," he looked over, "and you hate her."

Dean took a moment to let that sink in. "What?"

"I fornicated with her because I knew for a fact that it would make you angry."

The fact that he said that without any feeling made it worse. Dean swung his legs over the side of the bed and turned his back on Castiel, raking his hand down his face. He didn't want the angel to observe the emotions playing across his face. He got up and walked over to the food.

"Hungry?"

"I find that I am."

The angel got up and walked over to the table, taking the paper sack and opening it. He unwrapped a breakfast sandwich and bit into it.

"Fascinating," Castiel said after he swallowed.

"What?"

"How much better everything tastes with bacon."

Dean had to snort as he grabbed one for himself. He walked over to the duffle bag, eating his breakfast with one hand and pulling the laptop and power cord out with the other. He set it all up on the table like a pro, using the wifi to search for a new job. Mostly, he was just using it and the food as an excuse not to talk or look at Cas. He barely noticed when the drink he had left on the opposite side was suddenly within reach, or when the trash was gone off the table.

Cas ruffled his hair and sat down close by him, opening one of the Styrofoam plates and picking up a plastic fork. "Anything interesting?"

"Not yet." He said, rather exasperated. Dean caught himself glancing up at the Angel and then had to force his eyes back down to the laptop screen. He bit his lip in anger, trying not to acknowledge how much Castiel had actually hurt him, because he knew he had no right. Castiel had given up everything for him, more than once, and Dean was anything but faithful. If he wanted to tap some demon ass that was his prerogative. However, that didn't stop him feeling what he did.

He would have gotten over it if it was anyone else but…Meg? There was no way he was getting over that any time soon. Dean remembered something she had said.

"Meg said that you put her on a path to Redemption. What was that about?"

"I thought it was a myth, but apparently it's not." He said, fidgeting in his chair before getting another forkful of hashbrowns. "There's this thing, don't know where it started, that an angel could redeem a demon by enveloping them in their grace. I've never heard of it being done, but apparently it can happen." He laughed a little and then coughed, hard.

"You okay?"

"Yeah," he said, clearing his throat a bit then continuing to eat. "She asked me to save her. I could not refuse her request."

At least Dean knew Cas didn't have feelings for her. It had been an action that was half White Knight Complex and half make him jealous. That made it a little better.

A little later, while he was scrolling through news articles, Cas leaned over him, his hand right next to Dean's on the table. If Dean turned his face it'd be right up against Cas's cheek. He still smelled weird, though. Like Meg. Like Hell. "Find anything?" That deep, soothing voice he knew so well asked against his ear. He could feel Cas's breath on his skin, and it smelled like mint and tobacco.

"Uh…yeah" He said, swallowing hard. "If it's a job, when we finish we can go see Sam and Sera. It's less than a hundred miles from Sioux Falls."

"Good. I find that I miss them."

"Yeah, I do too."

The hand of Castiel's that was not supporting him on the table drifted over to Dean's shoulder. "So should we pack up? Hit the road?"

Honestly Dean could think of about ten things he would rather do first, but no, he was still mad. He shot up out of the chair, pushing Cas away as he did so. "Yeah, yeah we should."

He closed the laptop and leaned over to pull the plug from the wall, picking it up and walking around Cas to stick it back in the duffle bag. Castiel went around the room and went to the bathroom, gathering up their things. He glanced over at Dean as he angrily shoved his clothes into the bag, and his lips lifted in a slight smile. Although he didn't like seeing his Hunter in any kind of pain, giving him a dose of his own medicine was rather gratifying on a level.


	27. Chapter 27

Dean pulled the needle through Castiel's skin. They were almost out of dental floss. They'd have to stop somewhere and get more soon.

"Why is this not healing?" Dean asked. It was just a normal knife slice across his shoulder, normally he would just work some angel mojo and it'd be fine, but he had tried and it hadn't worked.

"I believe taking in Meg's demonic essence may have weakened some of my abilities." He said, "But I should return to normal soon enough." He winced as the needle pierced his flesh again. Dean cracked a smile then tried to repress it. It was always funny to him when Cas looked a little more human. He didn't know why. He didn't like him being hurt, but seeing him just the slightest bit vulnerable…he couldn't resist it. He knotted off the floss and then snipped off the excess. He put the needle back in the bag that was their makeshift suture kit and then went to cover the wound with a bandage when suddenly he stopped, feeling his hand brush against something he couldn't see. He would have ignored it, but Castiel had shuddered in the same moment.

He continued bandaging him up. "Was that….were those feathers?" Cas would know what he was really asking. He saw Cas nod.

"Yes. You grazed my wings."

"But…what…how…that's never happened before…I thought they were, you know…"

"They are. You aren't supposed to be able to do that, but as Seraphiel continually says there is no manual for what she did to you. You may be able to feel them."

Dean taped off the bandage and then pulled his hands back. He put them palm out and tried to concentrate on what he had felt moments before. He pushed hem forward a bit and then felt something soft. He closed his eyes, spreading his hands apart through seemingly empty air, feeling what could only be described as pure love running through his fingers. He opened his eyes as his one hand caught slightly. He pulled it away and a little feather made entirely out of light fell from his fingers. As it drifted down to the sheets it became nothing but ash.

He shook himself, and then continued checking Castiel for injuries. "Are you good?" He asked, finding nothing else.

"I believe you have treated all of my wounds."

"Good." Dean got off the bed and started going around the room to pack. "It's less than a two hour drive from here to home. If we leave soon we'll get there in time for dinner."

Cas stood up. The clothes he had been wearing were ruined and he didn't have the energy to fix them. He went over to his bag and found one of his reserve shirts, a Led Zeppelin one, and pulled it on, then stuffed the white shirt, tie and suit jacket, bloody and torn as they were, into the bag.

Dean swung his duffle bag over his shoulder and walked out, closing the door behind him. He walked to the trunk of the Impala and threw the bag inside, then slammed it shut. As he did, he noticed Meg standing next to the car and he jumped.

"Jesus…"

"Didn't mean to scare you, big guy." She looked around. "Cas inside?"

Dean full out glared at her. He started to act like he was going to walk past her, put then turned and pinned her to the car, pulling the demon knife from his belt and pressing the point of it just below her sternum.

"Now you listen to me, you demonic whore. I don't want to see, hear, smell, taste or feel you anywhere near me or my family, you got that?"

"That knife isn't going to work on me, I'm not demon enough anymore."

"Yeah, well, it'd probably still hurt" He pushed a little harder, and he could feel it pierce her clothing, and the skin giving slightly beneath. Sure enough, she winced. "That's what I thought. Now you stay away, or I will find a way to kill you…whatever the hell it is you've become. The only reason I haven't already is because we still kind of owe you." He pulled her off the car and then tossed her down to the ground. She flipped her hair out of her face and looked up from the ground.

"Crowley wants to use Thalia to get himself redeemed. Just thought you'd like to know." She said, spitting, before she disappeared. Dean flexed his fingers around the hilt of the blade, and then stuck it back in his belt. He took a deep breath, then turned on his heel and walked back in to the motel room.

Sera pulled the pie out of the oven, setting it on top of a trivet on the counter so it could cool. Sam walked in to the kitchen. "Smells good. I guess this means Dean and Cas are coming tonight."

"Yeah, they should be here before dark." She looked over her shoulder at Sam. "Thalia down for her nap?"

"Out like a light. She really wore herself out crawling today."

"You know this means we have to baby-proof some stuff now."

"Can't we just…I don't know…let her get into stuff? I mean…I highly doubt a Nephilim is going to be taken down by sticking a paper clip into a light socket or something."

"Yeah, but it'd kill our power. It's just less mess to clean up, that's all." She turned completely around to face him, leaning on the counter. "When they get here, don't ask them what's wrong."

"What?"

"Dean will tell you if he's ready to tell you but…but don't ask, okay? It'll just…make everything awkward."

"Uh…okay."

"Also, when it's time for them to leave again, you'll be going with Dean, not Cas."

"What?"

"Thalia's gotten big enough and content enough for me to watch over her on my own. Cas has other things he needs to do, and being a Hunter is in your blood. It's what you're meant for. You need to get back out there, saving people and all that jazz."

"But…I don't want…"

"Can it, Sam. You're going to. While they're here you're going to realize that while you may be happy here, you're restless, and you're going to make the decision to leave on your own, I'm just giving you a heads up so you can go ahead and start preparing."

Sam looked conflicted. He didn't really know how to feel about this. She stepped forward, fixing his collar and smoothing the shoulders of his shirt. "Don't worry. We'll be here for you to come home to, and if you miss us, I can zap anywhere in a second, alright? We'll be fine, you need to get back to your life."

"If this is another attempt to distance yourself from me so that I won't be sad when you leave, it's not going to work. You're in my blood now, Sera."

"I know. That's not what this is about."

"What is it about, then?"

"It's about something bigger than all of us. If it were up to me, you and Dean and Cas would all stay here. Safe, loved, comforted, the biggest problems in your lives would be how we're going to pay the bills and what we're having for dinner, or Thalia trying to grow up too fast, but it's not up to me, and you have to go."

"Can't we change it?"

"Don't you dare, Samuel Winchester."

Later on in the night, after Dean and Cas had gotten there and they had eaten and caught up with each other, Dean was in his bedroom, unpacking everything so Sera could wash it. There were a lot of things going through his mind, the foremost being what he wanted to say to Castiel. He wanted to make things right, make everything better, but he didn't know how.

Suddenly his eyes caught movement outside his door. He turned and saw Castiel walking past. He straightened and said the angel's name. He stopped and took two steps back, poking his head into the room. Dean beckoned him in. The angel stepped into the room. Dean saw that he was barefoot. He was still wearing the Led Zeppelin shirt, but had changed into his black and blue pajama pants.

"Shut the door."

Cas looked confused, then waved the door shut with a flick of his hand. "What is it?"

"I need to apologize." Dean said. The angel opened his mouth to stop him but Dean put up his hand. "No, just…don't say anything, okay? I need to get this out." He took a deep breath and turned toward him.

"I haven't treated you as well as I should have. Not just about things lately but…you know…in general. I've always been selfish and disrespectful because it's who I am, and I can't change that. There is something I would change, though." He started stepping slowly towards Castiel.

"The simple fact is that I want you to be mine. All mine. I don't want to share you with anyone else, and that's not fair of me if I'm going to keep having one night-stands with the girls we keep saving and random chicks I meet in bars. I should have learned my lesson about that with the Amazons but…I am who I am…so I just want you to know that…if you want it, I'll be yours. All yours. No more women, or you know…monsters…just you…I don't know how I'm going to be able to cope with that. I'm not really programmed to be monogamous but…I don't want to lose you so…" He cleared his throat uncomfortably. "Yeah, that's pretty much it."

Cas tilted his head and blinked at him, but was silent. Dean rubbed his neck then turned away. "Kind of…you know, putting myself out there, Cas. It'd be nice if you would say something."

He felt the angel's hand on his shoulder, and turned with it as it pulled him. Cas looked him up and down and then smiled. He answered simply, "Yes." It was enough. In fact, Dean was glad that he didn't get all gushy. He forced out a laugh, then grabbed the angel and pulled him close into a kiss.

Dean pulled him over to the bed and sat him down, grabbing the bottom of his shirt and pulling it up over his head. Then, he bent down and grabbed the bottom of his pajama pants, yanking them off. He smiled up at the angel, planting kisses on his knees and inner thighs. He was being gentle, worshipful, and Cas was just eating it up. Dean stood again, leaning over Cas, caressing the inside of his mouth with his tongue. As he moved forward, Cas slid back on the mattress, eventually lying completely down. Dean started kissing down his neck, his chest, flicking out his tongue like a snake. As he got lower he stopped and looked up at Cas out of the top of his eyes.

"Cover your mouth, I don't want them to hear." Cas blinked his big blue eyes, then put both of his hands over his mouth. Dean pressed hard against Cas's hip bones, pinning him down. He never thought he'd be into this, but this was who he wanted, who he loved, and Dean never was one to do anything halfway.


End file.
